It's the little things....

The Bible Blogger has reached the book of Ecclesiastes, and included the following quote I've never really noticed before. So I'll include it here for all of you. As he notes, Chapter 4 is a remarkable discussion of love and family.

I'm quoting from the Holy Bible: New Analytical Edition -- it's the one that belonged to my grandmother. The cover is well-worn, cracked, and threatening to come off, and some of the pages are in there precariously, but it's beautiful. There's a sticker inside the front cover that lists "Soul-winning Bible verses", and the first few pages are covered with her notes from various sermons. The Bulletin from Sunday, June 5, 1966 marks Psalm 6 -- along with the bulletin from her brother's funeral, on June 9, 1966, when he was just 52. My grandmother kept these items for almost 30 years, until her death in 1992. And it's filled with marginal notes, and underlinings in many different colors. My grandmother was a complicated woman -- she'd had a hard life, she wasn't always fair or kind, but she believed strongly in the power of God's word, and the need for us always to reach out to those in need around us. Even when she had little, she gave of what she had and opened her home to those who needed a place to sleep. And she told me, when I was 9, to read my Bible every day (not that I've followed this teaching well, always, but I think of her when I do remember. And of Mom, who always said, even if I don't read anything else, to at least read the chapter of Proverbs for whatever day it was. And who has led by quiet example every single day that I've known her.)

So here is Ecclesiastes 4:8-12.

There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a three-fold cord is not quickly broken.

Anyway, I usually get hung up in the "For every thing there is a season" section of Ecclesiastes (or Koheleth), but this text is a lovely expression of our human need for one another. Not just in the context of marriage (as the B.B. discusses it), but also in our friendships.

The Bible Blogger also mentioned an article on marriage, written in 1997 by a man who had just lost his wife.

And finally, I was talking to a friend who mentioned Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" -- I think I probably cut the conversation a little short by going off on a tangent, but have found an interesting online resource.

Blessings and peace....

Addendum: I found a poem my grandmother had cut out of the newspaper and kept in the Bible. Who knows how long it's been there. Here it is:

I shall not pass this way again,
But far beyond earth's where and when
May I look back along the road
Where on both sides good seed I sowed.

I shall not pass this way again,
My wisdom guide my tongue and pen,
And love me mine that so I may
Plant roses all along the way.

I shall not pass this way again,
May I be courteous to men.
Faithful to friends, true to my God,
A fragrance to the path I trod.
---- Clarence Urmy