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#Post#: 3610--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 1, 2019, 8:37 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 7:19 . .Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than
ten rulers in a city.
Far too many city managers are neither sensible nor apparently
capable of exercising good judgment.
They say that two heads are better than one, but in this case
ten are inferior to one when that one head is the only smart
head hereabouts.
The wise man is circumspect; which Webster's defines as careful
to consider all circumstances and possible consequences, i.e.
the wise man is smart enough, and prudent enough, to decide upon
a course of action that's best for everyone rather than only for
himself and/or special interests; and there are times when the
wise man is so clever with words that he can persuade ten block
heads to do the right thing.
● Ecc 7:20 . . For there is not one good man on earth who
does what is best and doesn't err.
Solomon was a keen observer of people in power. He knew they
couldn't be trusted. Too many people look to government to
improve their quality of life and to remedy society's ills. That
is a bad habit because human government is made up of human
beings, and human beings cannot be trusted to always do what is
right because they have prejudices and biases, private
ambitions, axes to grind, hands to shake, boots to lick, favors
to repay, promises to keep, opportunities to grab, and friends
to curry. They also have mental, physical, and emotional
problems that effect their judgment and sometimes put them in a
bad mood. Sometimes they drink, which loosens them up and often
disposes them to do things that are not in the public's best
interests.
Only the foolish believe their government to be as pure and
honest as the angels of God. They aren't. They weren't in
Solomon's day; and they sure aren't now. The voters who put
their hero in office, believing him to be a Messiah capable of
healing their country's ills and giving people hope, are often
very disappointed to discover he's just another cheap politician
with a charismatic persona and feet of clay rather than gold.
● Ecc 7:21-22 . . Finally, don't pay attention to
everything that is said, so that you may not hear your slave
reviling you; for well you remember the many times that you
yourself have reviled others.
There are some instances in life where ignorance is truly bliss;
and this is one of them. Some people just have to know
everything others are saying about them. That's not a good idea.
People are only human, and humans love to gossip and say
negative things about others. If you are prone to talk about
others, then it is a sure bet others are prone to talk about
you, because they are just as human as you. Solomon advised
against being overly wise and overly foolish. I would add: don't
be nosey and don't be overly sensitive.
The golden rule applies here as well as any other place: Do unto
others as you would like it done unto you. So don't crowd people
or monitor their conversations like Big Brother or something.
They need to be free to talk about you; just as you need freedom
to talk about them.
But beware of vicious gossips and rumor mongers. Some of us talk
about others for fun and don't really mean anything by it; but
some are out to stir up trouble and deliberately assassinate
reputations. They come up to you and say: "You should hear what
so and so is saying about you". People like that are a menace to
society.
_
#Post#: 3638--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 2, 2019, 10:30 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 7:23-25 . . All this I tested with wisdom. I thought
I could fathom it, but it eludes me. [The secret of] what
happens is elusive and deep, deep down; who can discover it? I
put my mind to studying, exploring, and seeking wisdom and the
reason of things, and to studying wickedness, stupidity,
madness, and folly.
Well; Solomon is not the first one to grapple with the mystery
of life and fail to make any sense out of it. Many famous
philosophers of the past came up empty handed too. The happiest
people seem to be those who don't think very deep. They just
live out their lives like a nutria or a dragonfly without the
slightest concern about their origin nor the way things are, nor
of the future. Maybe they have the right idea after all.
● Ecc 7:26-27 . . Now, I find woman more bitter than
death; she is all traps, her hands are fetters and her heart is
snares. He who is pleasing to God escapes her, and he who is
displeasing is caught by her. See, this is what I found, said
Koheleth, item by item in my search for the reason of things.
Most men "under the sun" would agree with Solomon that women are
a necessary evil; and mostly evil. "You can't live with 'em, and
you can't live without 'em." How many times I've heard unhappy
men sound that lament.
According to Gen 2:18-24, God created Woman so the male would
have a supportive friend; a certain somebody who understands him
and relates to him; someone he could lean on. Adam discovered
that animals can't relate to Man, unless of course a particular
man happens to be an animal himself. One of my all-time favorite
bumper stickers goes like this:
MEN ARE NOT PIGS!
Pigs Are Gentle, Sensitive, Intelligent Animals.
_
#Post#: 3663--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 3, 2019, 11:06 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 7:28a . . As for what I sought further but did not
find,
Apparently, the thing that Solomon sought further (in addition
to the investigations he has made up to this point) was a human
being free from the foibles of human nature. Is it actually
possible that the world cannot produce even one single human
being who is 100% rational and sensible?
● Ecc 7:28b . . I found only one human being in a
thousand, and the one I found among so many was never a woman.
(chuckle) If left up to Solomon, America would never have a
female President.
His comment doesn't mean Solomon did actually find a truly 100%
percent sensible person; only that he found one that was
sensible in his own opinion; which is a subjective evaluation.
That kind of determination has no value in reality because it's
a judgment based upon one's own personal (and possibly biased)
point of view. Although it appears in that verse that Solomon is
being terribly sexist about the intelligence of women; he isn't
actually suggesting there are no sensible women at all, but that
in his own personal experience, sensible women were even more
rare than sensible men.
In the movie "As Good As It Gets" one of the main characters (a
writer played by Jack Nicholson) was asked by an admirer how he
was able to understand women so well-- knowing what goes on in
their hearts and minds and putting it down on paper. He
answered; "I start with a man, and take away reason and
accountability." (chuckle) Nicholson's character, by the way,
was a very self-centered, obsessive-compulsive individual who
harbored some strong anti-social opinions about women and LGBT.
● Ecc 7:29a . . But, see, this I did find: God made men
plain,
Plain can mean simple or uncomplicated; which seems to be
exactly what he's saying. God made Man an uncomplicated being;
but he didn't stay that way.
● Ecc 7:29b . . but they have engaged in too much
reasoning.
The word for "reasoning" is from chishshabown (khish-shaw-bone')
which means: a mental or mechanical contrivance, i.e. a warlike
machine or a mental machination, e.g. sophistry and rationale.
Some people do tend to complicate everything by over-thinking;
thus they engage themselves in a sort of mental bull session
that never gets to the bottom of anything. They can't just take
things as they are, and let things happen. No, they have to
complicate everything.
Then there are those who can't permit themselves to accept
anything they don't understand. So their minds remain forever
vacillating in a limbo between two opinions. They're indecisive,
and oftentimes insecure, because for minds like that, there are
no absolutes and no way of knowing what's for real and what's
not for real. So they're forever stalling with yeah-but, maybe,
possibly, could be, and what-if.
_
#Post#: 3677--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 4, 2019, 10:35 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 8:1-2a . .Who is like the wise man, and who knows
the meaning of the adage: A man's wisdom lights up his face, so
that his deep discontent is dissembled? -- I do!
There's another way to say some of that.
"Crafty people are good at hiding their true feelings."
(especially politicians; it's very difficult sometimes to get a
straight answer out of them)
Every day I'm asked by somebody; "Hey, how's it going?" or "How
are you today?" Of course I always smile and say; "Great" or
"Okay" but inside I might not be having a good day at all.
People don't want to hear about your problems. Sometimes just
for fun I'll answer those kinds of greetings with; "I'm blue,
depressed, overweight, in ill health, despondent, and wish I was
never born." Or I'll say; "I feel pretty good; for a guy my
age." (chuckle) Those always gets a reaction.
● Ecc 8:2b . . Obey the king's command, I say, because you
took an oath before God.
An oath taken "before God" may not seem valid to an atheist, but
when the wording is formal; as in legally binding oaths required
for various government positions, then the oath becomes enough
rope to hang yourself with if you go back on it.
● Ecc 8:3-5a . . Leave his presence; do not tarry in a
dangerous situation, for he can do anything he pleases; inasmuch
as a king’s command is authoritative, and none can say to him:
What are you doing? One who obeys orders will not suffer from
the dangerous situation.
In Solomon's day, it wasn't wise to provoke a king, nor to
interfere with his business, nor to block his way when he came
down your street. Kings were despotic monarchs: they answered to
no one, and could have people executed at whim all without the
bother of due process. This is still true today in a number of
nations. Every year, Parade magazine publishes a list of the
world's ten worst dictators. Those men practice a degree of
tyranny that you definitely do not want to oppose if perchance
you're one of their citizens.
● Ecc 8:5b . . A wise man, however, will bear in mind that
there is a time of doom.
No matter who you are, or how high your station in life, no one
is above the law. Those who become just a little too familiar
with kings, dictators, and presidents, sometimes think their
association with those high-ranking leaders gives them some sort
of immunity. That's when they get careless, goof up and cross
over a line; and the ruler, who in the past was their friend,
then becomes their dread enemy.
_
#Post#: 3695--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 5, 2019, 11:35 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 8:6 . . for there is a time and a judgment for
everything.
That's kind of superstitious in a way. It's like saying "So and
so had it coming to him." or "What goes around comes around" or
"God is gonna get you for that."
● Ecc 8:7 . .Yet it is a great affliction for man that he
is ignorant of what is to come; for who will make known to him
how it will be?
We have to expect to get caught up sometimes in circumstances
beyond our control. Often those circumstances are unforeseen and
blindside us-- they catch us off guard, and unprepared to cope
with them.
Sometimes in the performance of duty, or in compliance with the
law, (serving King, country, or employer) people have to do
unpleasant things in order to avoid unpleasant consequences;
e.g. young men in the Marines may be called upon to go kill non
combatants; or construction workers may have to destroy wildlife
habitat for a suburb; or friends may be subpoenaed to testify in
court against their buddies.
Sure they could refuse to kill non combatants, and they could
refuse to drive a bulldozer through wetlands, prairies, and
pastures, and they could refuse to testify. But there is a price
to pay for anarchy and insubordination. The young Marine could
be court-martialed for dereliction of duty, the construction guy
would most likely be fired, and the friend who refuses to help
the law convict their buddy could be hauled into court for the
crime of misprision.
Those kinds of circumstances are cold, hard facts of life; they
are a normal part of the human experience. They come at us like
juggernauts; big-foot trucks that crush us under their tires;
permanently altering our personalities and the way we feel about
ourselves.
● Ecc 8:8 . . No man has authority over the life-breath--
to hold back the life-breath; there is no authority over the day
of death. There is no mustering out from that war; wickedness is
powerless to save its owner.
The ultimate life-changing event-- DEATH --is the supreme
circumstance, the undefeated champ, rated as among those beyond
our control. No king can stop it from laying claim to his life;
as if it were one of his subjects. No draft dodger can run away
to Canada to avoid Death's induction. Death's time cannot be
delayed by failure to appear in court.
One day; in spite of anyone's strong objections to the contrary,
our number will come up-- at that time no matter who we are, or
who we were, we will die; and it matters little how, or when, or
where we depart. The world was getting along just fine without
us before we arrived, and it will do just fine without us after
we're gone. A supervisor once told me; "Don't ever think you
can't be replaced."
_
#Post#: 3718--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 6, 2019, 10:14 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 8:9 . . All these things I observed; I noted all
that went on under the sun, while men still had authority over
men to treat them unjustly.
Solomon's venue throughout the book of Ecclesiastes is "under
the sun". It's important to always keep that in mind or risk
getting the wrong impression from his sayings. His is not a book
upon which to base a religion (unless of course yours is atheism
or agnosticism) but rather of inspired philosophy from the
perspective of an earthy man rather than a heavenly man.
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin eliminated threats to his power
through Purge Trials and widespread secret executions and
persecution of his own fellow Soviet citizens. He left behind a
legacy of repression and fear as well as industrial and military
power. Stalin rid himself of all potential rivals in the party,
first by having many of them condemned as deviationists, and
later by ordering them executed.
To ensure his position and to push forward "socialism in one
country" he put the Soviet Union on a crash course of
collectivization and industrialization. An estimated 25 million
farmers were forced onto state farms. Collectivization alone
killed as many as 14.5 million Soviet people, and Russia's
agricultural output was reduced by 25 percent, according to some
estimates.
Stalin is only one example of the many oppressive rulers in the
course of human history, like Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Robert
Mugabe, Hosni Mubarak, and Kim Jong Il who use and abuse their
citizens; instead of managing countries for the country's good,
these kinds of rulers manage countries for their own personal
good. Their citizens are valued as commodities rather than
fellow men.
● Ecc 8:10a . . And then I saw scoundrels coming from the
Holy Site and being brought to burial
It is truly amazing how the wicked of the world have the nerve
to attend church and synagogue. Where's their conscience? And
then their families have the chutzpah to make sure the wicked
get honorable, Church sanctioned funerals when they die!
Paul Castellano-- John J. Gotti's predecessor as boss of the
Gambino clan --was denied a funeral mass in 1985 based upon the
notoriety of his background. The decision was backed up by canon
law, which prohibits funeral Masses that would engender public
scandal among the faithful.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Rome can deny a Mass of
Christian Burial in the case of those persons who have not lived
in communion with Rome according to the maxim which comes down
from the time of Pope Leo the Great: (448) quibus viventibus non
communicavimus mortuis communicare non possumus (We cannot hold
communion in death with those who in life were not in communion
with us).
● Ecc 8:10b . . while such as had acted righteously were
forgotten in the city.
Many good people often live out their lives in total obscurity,
never basking in any limelight nor making a name for themselves.
Their funerals? You won't see them on a nationally televised
broadcast and probably not in a newspaper's obituary column.
● Ecc 8:10c-13 . . And here is another frustration: the
fact that the sentence imposed for evil deeds is not executed
swiftly, which is why men are emboldened to do evil-- the fact
that a sinner may do evil a hundred times and his [punishment]
still be delayed. For although I am aware that it will be well
with those who revere God since they revere Him, and it will not
be well with the scoundrel, and he will not live long, because
he does not revere God.
Justice is indeed slow, especially if the accused has lots of
money because their lawyers can tie up the courts for as long as
ten years with appeals and continuances.
BTW: John J. Gotti died in 2002. The Roman Catholic Diocese of
Brooklyn finally did permit a mass of Christian burial for Mr.
Gotti but only after he was in the ground. Still it just seems
so preposterous to grant a man like that any kind of Christian
burial let alone one garnished with a high mass.
_
#Post#: 3745--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 7, 2019, 11:39 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 8:14 . . here is a frustration that occurs in the
world: sometimes an upright man is requited according to the
conduct of the scoundrel; and sometimes the scoundrel is
requited according to the conduct of the upright. I say all that
is frustration.
Nowhere is that principle more evident than in group discipline.
The military commonly punishes an entire platoon for the bad
conduct of just one man. In that scenario, there is no
individual justice; but collective justice; so that the innocent
suffer right along with the guilty. The same effect occurs in
group rewards. The people who performed well get no more honor
than the people who did poorly because the group as a whole gets
the credit; not the individual. Injustice of that nature is
indeed frustrating; but nevertheless, unavoidable under the sun.
● Ecc 8:15 . . I therefore praised enjoyment. For the only
good a man can have under the sun is to eat and drink and enjoy
himself. That much can accompany him, in exchange for his
wealth, through the days of life that God has granted him under
the sun.
There are some things in life; like injustice, that we just have
to accept. To fret about it is totally a waste of precious life
and energy. It is far better to cope, to adjust, to adapt, and
to enjoy life as best as possible with what you have at hand to
work with and within the circumstances wherein you find yourself
imprisoned.
● Ecc 8:16 . . For I have set my mind to learn wisdom and
to observe the business that goes on in the world-- even to the
extent of going without sleep day and night--
Well; Solomon was one of the filthy rich and could afford to
lose some sleep now and then, but working men dare not deprive
themselves of sleep. They need their rest; and don't need to lay
awake nights fretting over things in the world that are beyond
their IQ, and beyond their control.
● Ecc 8:17 . . and I have observed all that God brings to
pass. Indeed, man cannot guess the events that occur under the
sun. For man tries strenuously, but fails to guess them; and
even if a sage should think to discover them he would not be
able to guess them.
The View Point Inn, perched along the rim of the Columbia Gorge
in Oregon, was slowly sinking into financial ruin for lack of
business. Then, out of the blue, the production company of the
first of the Twilight series of movies selected the inn for
Edward's and Bella's prom scene. Subsequently the inn became a
popular tourist attraction, and co-owner Geoff Thomson said the
inn's business improved 30 to 40 percent. You just never know
what a day will bring forth.
Chess masters can often see twelve moves ahead. But they cannot
see into their opponent's mind. Just when the master thinks he
has the game figured out, his opponent launches an unsuspected
strategy and throws the master's calculations off and he must
begin to calculate a different twelve moves ahead than before.
Solomon may have been just a bit too superstitious in this
regard. He seemed to think that God's hand is in everything.
Although that really isn't true, it is a pretty good way for a
philosopher to explain away things that we can neither control,
alter, foresee, understand, nor do anything about.
_
#Post#: 3760--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 8, 2019, 10:39 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 9:1 . . For I have taken all this to my heart and
explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in
the hand of God. Man does not know whether [it will be] love or
hatred; anything awaits him.
That was certainly true of Joseph. He was a very good boy;
favored by God, yet sold into Egyptian slavery by his own kin.
Same with John the baptizer. He too was a good, and wise, man--
the forerunner of Christ. Yet at the young age of thirty, still
in the prime of his life, he was beheaded at the whim of a silly
young girl whose dancing happened to please a tetrarch. God did
nothing to prevent it. Are any of us any safer?
● Ecc 9:2-3a . . For the same fate is in store for all:
for the righteous, and for the wicked; for the good and pure,
and for the impure; for him who sacrifices, and for him who does
not; for him who is pleasing, and for him who is displeasing;
and for him who swears, and for him who shuns oaths. That is the
sad thing about all that goes on under the sun: that the same
fate is in store for all.
Oftentimes when people contract fatal diseases, they whine: "Why
me?" Answer: Why not? Yes, why not because we're all just
lobsters in one of those fish tanks they have in sea food
restaurants.. The cook gropes about and the lobster he catches
is just a matter of chance. And eventually he gets them all, one
by one.
It seemed to Solomon that good people shouldn't have to die. But
actually, death is merciful. What if people lived forever? They
would continue to age more and more till they were totally
debilitated and looked like emaciated mummies. They would have
to be carried around like baggage, completely dependent upon the
young for subsistence; and forever enduring an unbearable
quality of life.
● Ecc 9:3b . . (Not only that, but men's hearts are full
of sadness, and their minds of madness, while they live; and
then-- to the dead!)
The word for "madness" is from howlelah (ho-lay-law') which
actually means folly; not insanity. Webster's defines folly as
(1) a lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight, (2)
criminally or tragically foolish actions or conduct, (3) a
foolish act or idea, and (4) an excessively costly or
unprofitable undertaking.
If we take the far view-- if we weigh the value of Man's
thoughts and endeavors against the depth of eternity --then
nothing a man under the sun does has any real meaning and
purpose. After the earthly man lives out his pointless
existence, he dies and rots away like common road kill.
_
#Post#: 3796--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 10, 2019, 10:52 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 9:4 . . For he who is reckoned among the living has
something to look forward to-- even a live dog is better than a
dead lion--
As long as people are still alive, there's always the thought
that one day their ship might come in. But once you're dead,
there are no more ships other than the one that ferries people
across the river Styx.
● Ecc 9:5-6 . . since the living know they will die. But
the dead know nothing; they have no more recompense, for even
the memory of them has died. Their loves, their hates, their
jealousies have long since perished; and they have no more share
till the end of time in all that goes on under the sun.
On the face of things, those who have passed on experienced the
final phase of life; the last item on their bucket list: and now
have nothing left to do. They're all done. They were born (we
all are) they lived (we all do) they died (we all will). And
everybody not only experiences the final phase, but most
everyone also experiences the common experiences of life-- love,
hate, and rivalry. Every generation goes through the very same
things while they're here.
● Ecc 9:7-10 . . Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink
your wine in joy; for your action was long ago approved by God.
Let your clothes always be freshly washed, and your head never
lack ointment. Enjoy happiness with a woman you love all the
fleeting days of life that have been granted to you under the
sun-- all your fleeting days. For that alone is what you can get
out of life and out of the means you acquire under the sun.
Whatever it is in your power to do, do with all your might. For
there is no action, no reasoning, no learning, no wisdom in
Sheol, where you are going.
That's the first, and the only time in Ecclesiastes where the
word "sheol" appears. It's from the Hebrew words she'owl
(sheh-ole') and/or sheol (sheh-ole') which are essentially
equivalent to the New Testament's haides (hah'-dace) which was
the ancient Greeks' world of the dead (usually subterranean;
viz: the netherworld)
Sheol is often interpreted "grave". That's a good choice of
words for the man under the sun, i.e. a rational man thinking to
himself whose perception of reality is moderated by what he can
see going on around him in the physical universe rather than
what he cannot see going on under his feet in the non-physical
sphere.
The man under the sun generally understands that he needs to
squeeze every drop of juice out of the orange of life before
it's too late. That is both sad and frustrating for many because
circumstances will not permit them to enjoy life as much as they
would like. They will never achieve their highest potential,
never eat right, never dress right, never have a family of their
own, never be pretty, never be handsome, never be thin, never be
rich, never be intelligent, never be famous, never be popular,
never have good health, and never have a home of their own-- the
grave ends any and all dreams of ever achieving any of that.
Since a lifetime is so little time to enjoy life, it's tragic
that the good life is taken away from us so easily because
there's simply not enough time in life to make up for lost time.
_
#Post#: 3824--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 11, 2019, 3:43 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 9:11a . . I again saw under the sun that the race is
not [always] to the swift, and the battle is not to the
warriors, and neither is bread to the wise, nor wealth to the
discerning, nor favor to men of ability;
Typically races are won by the swift, but if the swift should
trip and fall, they will lose the race in spite of their
superior speed. Battles are usually won by the valiant, not the
timid. But again, not always. If the valiant are dunces, then
the timid with brains can outsmart them. Food and money are
usually plentiful in the homes of people who have a head on
their shoulders; but again, if the wise should suddenly lose
everything by an economic catastrophe; like the Wall Street
collapse of 2008, then all the financial know-how in the world
won't buy them a single loaf of bread down at the local Safeway.
The word "favor" is from chen (khane) which means: graciousness,
i.e. subjective (kindness, favor) or objective (beauty). For
some strange reason, nature allows only a relatively small
percentage of beautiful people to have any brains or develop any
really useful, productive skills. Most of the achievers in life,
like chemists, astronomers, architects, mathematicians, writers,
movie makers, physicists, engineers, and designers et al; are
ordinary-looking people. The beautiful people are often dead
wood (and dead heads). Whenever I look behind the scenes of
really difficult movies like Inception, Matrix, Avatar, and
Monsters Inc.; I'm amazed at the rather unexceptional looks of
many of the makers of our favorite movies. They just don't
appear to be all that smart and creative.
I noticed the same thing in my job as a Federal civilian
employee. The headquarters in my district has a noticeable
shortage of attractive men and women because the government, as
a rule, doesn't hire people in respect to how well they fill out
their clothes, but in respect to how well their minds work.
● Ecc 9:11b . . for time and chance overtake them all.
There are no guarantees in life. It's a gamble. I know of a
clerk in Costco who spent four years in college majoring in
Sociology. There was plenty of demand for people with that kind
of a degree when he entered college; but by the time he finished
school, the demand had vanished and my graduate friend had to
get a job as a fry cook in a Mongolian grill.
● Ecc 9:12 . . And a man cannot even know his time. As
fishes are enmeshed in a fatal net, and as birds are trapped in
a snare, so men are caught at the time of calamity, when it
comes upon them without warning.
A machinist employed by the Corps of Engineers here in Portland
Oregon where I once worked as a welder, volunteered to go and
help out with the rescue and clean-up operation in New York
after the World Trade Center was hit with airliners flown by
Islamic extremists. On return, he remarked how he was puzzled by
parking structures near ground zero full of very expensive autos
like BMW, Corvette, and Lexus that were covered with dirt day
after day. He wondered why the people who owned those beautiful
cars never washed them.
Then he realized why. It was because those cars once belonged to
commuters who worked in the Trade Center-- commuters who were
caught by total surprise in the sudden destruction of not only
their place of employment, but also of their very lives.
Whatever they had planned for that day, was instantly canceled
forever. The owners never dreamed that the miles they drove to
work that day would be their very last.
Sudden-death incidents like that happen all the time. Not long
ago actor Bill Paxton was in the hospital for treatment of an
aortic aneurism when he suddenly died of a stroke on the
operating table. It took his life right out of the blue like a
stray bullet from a drive-by.
_
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