Heart and Mind

I've been reading some in Ecclesiastes. Quite depressing, actually. Definitely Solomon was depressed. All that wisdom, all that knowledge, and his conclusion? "Vanity, vanity. All is vanity."

I totally understand his reasoning. We work hard and save and--die. We build a life and then leave it. What use is all the effort? Why not "eat, drink, and be merry"?

His father David contemplated some of the same topics. He also struggled with how the wicked so often prosper from their evil-doing. But in nearly every case, he reached the point of despair and took one more step: the step into the eternal. What Solomon could not reason out, David experienced. What the son could not learn, the father knew. With the confidence of one who "will dwell in the house of the Lord forever," he states his desire and expectation: "As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness."

God gave to Solomon understanding and riches and power. David was called "a man after God's own heart." Though "[w]isdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom," I would choose the heart of God.

Whose assessment?

Who determines the worth of a thing? Would the world be as pretty if even one color were missing?

Is the brightest star the greatest? Is the mystery of a thousand distant points of light a stronger force? Or does it make a difference from which planet you view them?

Is the performance before an audience of a thousand greater music than the song realized in a child's lesson?

Can I measure my day in tasks accomplished? Or are my moments like notes that die to the hearing but not the heart?