The Parable of the Shore Crab

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Ecclesiastes, Nature, Photography, Religious Thoughts

So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8.15

We are still in the 50 day celebration of Easter, celebrating the new life in the risen Christ, a new life that brings hope for the here and now and hope for the future.  A new life that says grab life with both hands for there is nothing to fear, a time to eat, drink for tomorrow we don’t die, or rather the death of this earthly frame is not the end as we once might have thought.  There are those who are sincere committed Christians who believe that as a follower of Christ life should be sombre and frugal I understand where they are coming from but it wont surprise you to hear that I don’t agree with their interpretations.

This little fella was also on the boat with the Scorpion Fish I told you of yesterday, he came up in one of the creels falling onto the floor of the boat and scurrying away to hide under the manmade rock of an old bit of scaffolding.

The Parable of the Shore Crab

Consider the shore crab, it lands on a strange land but neither worries or panics.  Instead it finds for itself sanctuary and bounty beyond measure to feast upon.  It does not through suspicion reject the bounty that is laid out in full sight but eats of its fill, both seeking and finding contentment.

Consider the shore crab, feasting one moment and the next scooped up and set as bait for Brown Crabs.

I don’t believe Christ wants us to be somber dour Christians after all time and time again we hear of him eating and drinking, okay he doesn’t do it all the time but he certainly does it.  I don’t believe he wants us to be forever looking over our shoulders wondering suspiciously how and why something good has happened, for he came to bring us life in all its fullness.  And I don’t believe that Christ wants us to miserable, for if that was the case surely he wouldn’t have made people’s lives better by healing the lame and the deaf and the blind, not casting the stone, comforting the bereaved, welcoming the outcast and … well you get the picture.

I do believe that our lives can be bait for others, attractive examples of what life can be.  Of the contentment and fulfillment that life can offer knowing God will provide.  Knowing that there are places of safety when things seem a bit strange.  Set free from anxiety knowing that the future has already been taken care of by a cross and an empty grave.  I believe that to be a Christian doesn’t mean no more eating, drinking no more being merry, but rather no more worry surely that is enough to put a smile on anyones face!

Unchanging Times

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Ecclesiastes

In the same day I have read these words:

Everything that happens has happened before;
nothing is new, nothing under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

and then these:

“… when lawyers or hussars who have no special knowledge are appointed Directors of banks or companies and receive gigantic salaries, I conclude that these salaries are not fixed by the law of supply and demand but by personal influence.  This is an abuse important in itself, which has a bad effect on the state …”

Karenin in Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Time

Tags

Ecclesiastes, Religion

Earlier this week there was a service in church when I gave people the opportunity to pick up a variety of everyday objects and talk about them in relation to their journey. The hankies were surprisingly popular for tears of joy, sadness and release, as were was the candle and the sweets. But the object I want to tell you about today was a broken clock. For a long time I didn’t think anyone was going to pick it up, but eventually R did. He spoke on how much time rules us, time flies and time can stop if we don’t have a new battery put in once in a while.

We need to keep our clocks ticking, not so that we can be slaves to them, letting them rule and dictate our lives, but so that we can keep on going and growing, yes there will be times when we go slow, and that should be the warning chimes for us to do some remedial work and change the batteries, before we stop all together. Time remains a great gift, it is up to us what we do with it; throughout our lives we grow and develop, the passage of time can be seen in our faces, the colour of our hair, the texture of texture of our skin. But the passage of time can also be seen in the way we act and interact with others. As a baby we lie in a cot waving arms and legs around, in time and through learning we manage to sit, to crawl to walk and talk, we reach milestones in our lives as time continues, first day at school, first kiss, first job, continually growing and learning. Then maybe one day we discover that the clock has stopped, our batteries have run down. The world around us keeps going but we ourselves just can’t or won’t go on. We all need to take time to recharge our batteries, to gather ourselves together again, to take a deep breath, recalculate our bearings, before getting the clock ticking again.

We all – regardless of what our faith is, or if we have none – need to take time to recharge our batteries to keep our clocks ticking. A stopped clock is right twice a day and some people seem to be happy with their life being in that state, but we have far more potential than that. Would you really be happy with a clock that told the wrong time the other 23 hours, 58 minutes of each and every day? Yes human beings can cause death and destruction, but the beauty that is created in the world each and every day far outweighs that, it just isn’t news worthy!

One of my favourite passages in the Bible is about time, it is one that people often do not realise comes from the Bible but know the words from a song; like the Rivers of Babylon by Boney M which is a Psalm; this passage however come from the book of Ecclesiastes.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Time is precious, time is constant, time is vast. One day our time will run out, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day it will.

What will you do with your time today?