Recently, I did a podcast about the Hebrew book of Ecclesiastes.  It had to do with how  this book represents a "new" kind of wisdom in ancient Israel.  Before Ecclesiastes appeared, most Hebrews believed this about wisdom:  if one was wise, that is, if one adhered to the dictums of the divinely instituted backbone of the creation, one would always experience success, material as well as spiritual.  Disappointment could not be.
     
     Do you believe this?  I hope not.  In response, the writer of Ecclesiastes says that life is futile, that a life well lived can amount to nothing, and that all people suffer have the same end:  death.  Moreover, the wisest person may well suffer the worst of material fates.  Wisdom is no guarantee of anything.

     Except one thing:  the value of the presence of God.  Take away God, and yes, life can nonetheless be joyful, yet as Thomas Hobbes put it, also brutish and short.  Leave God in, and yes, life is equally so:  joyous as well as brutal.
     
     But, and this is a big "but," life has a point.  Why else would so-called "New Atheist" Richard Dawkins reply, in answer to a question about the meaning of life, "That's not a valid question"?
          
     By the way, I'll be traveling for a few days, so will not be posting until later next week.  Thanks for reading!