Good old days

Ecclesiastes 7:10-12; 8:1 (TNIV)

Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: wisdom preserves the life of its possessor... Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens the face and changes its hard appearance.

Nostalgia is not a new problem-and 'problem' it can certainly be! While it is undoubtedly good to have a sense of where we have come from, both individually and as communities, a problem can develop when we allow ourselves to long for a past that may be more imagination than reality. When that happens, cherished memories of places, persons or events can end up blighting what God is trying to do in and through us in the present.

Equally unhelpfully, some people can dwell on past hurts obsessively so that they become unable to believe anything good has ever happened to them. The darkness in their past overshadows all that has taken place since then, so they find God's blessings hard to discern.

The Teacher keeps returning to the question, 'What is the point of life?' He highlights the folly of swallowing whole our society's values and offering superficially easy answers to profound questions. The point of life, the Teacher reminds us, is becoming wise. It is not wise to spend our days lamenting the past when life seemed better. Cultivating a wise heart can involve facing squarely the times when life was bad, but then choosing to seek God's healing and help to move forward into a positive future.

The verses above describe some extremely practical benefits of wisdom: a comfortable existence and a healthy, long-lived one. The wise know 'the explanation of things'-'how' and 'why', rather than just 'what'. Oh, and as the final verse points out, wisdom performs as efficiently, if not more so, than any expensive moisturizer on the face.
How do we get hold of this wonderful product? Ask God, 'who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given' (see James 1:5).

Prayer
Generous God, please touch us with something of your wisdom.


Naomi Starkey

[Originaly printed in www.New Daylight magazine]