"Better the miscarriage than a person who lives and dies without enjoying his life."  So observes one of my favorite biblical authors, the writer of Ecclesiastes.  Having shared this verse, I add that, as one whose wife suffered a miscarriage many years ago, I do not in any way intend to speak cavalierly of a miscarriage.  It's a devastating event. Moreover, as this verse makes clear, Unlike all of us, the miscarriage will never see the light of day. Its (his or her) life will never begin.
     Ecclesiastes' larger point, however, is that if a person does not enjoy his/her life, this person may as well not have lived.  Although this may seem extreme--why cannot someone be free to live a thoroughly disappointing life?--it is making an important assertion about existence. We are made to enjoy life.  We were created to enjoy being alive.  Sure, life can be very difficult and frustrating, and yes, life can be full of disappointment and grief, and yes, we may occasionally wonder why, given the misfortunes that befall them, some people ever came into the world, but existence remains a thoroughly remarkable experience.  Who would have thought of sentience? Who would have dreamed of reality?
     The easy answer is of course to say, well, these are of God.  Though I do not dispute this, it begs a much larger question:  why is there anything at all?
     For this, I suggest we turn to a person whose centuries ago entry into Jerusalem many of us celebrate this upcoming Sunday, that is, Jesus of Nazareth.  Regardless of who we you think Jesus was/is, in dying, then rising, Jesus affirmed the indisputable worth of being and beingness.  It was worth living to live again.  While we can argue over the fact of the resurrection, we cannot ignore the far deeper issue it presents to us.  That is, we can live for today and today only, or we can accept that this life only has ultimate worth if it exists in something beyond itself.