The Wandering of the Appetite

“All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. . . . Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after the wind.”Eccl 6:7, 9

There has to be something more to life than working to have food so that one can satisfy his hunger. He will be hungry again and must work all the time to eat. The wandering of the appetite is vanity. Chasing after our whimsical desires is like chasing the wind. Our appetites are never satisfied. What a shallow, unthinking, meaningless existence. And, sadly, how common!

Better is the sight of the eyes, the conscious, careful awareness that allows one to make decisions based on more than his appetites. I don’t have to chase my appetites. I am not an animal. I can deliberately choose to do something that I do not want to do. I am able to deny myself for a greater cause. I am able to see past the meaningless, unending, empty, and impossible aim of pleasing myself in the way the world does.

It is not God’s purpose for us to be miserable. And we certainly should enjoy eating, drinking, and working, for this is our lot (Eccl 5:18). It is the temporal vanity of finding our full meaning in enjoying this life that we must escape. There is something greater.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11

What is this path of life? What frees us from this world and enslavement to our appetites? Faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Christ, which breaks the penalty and power of sin and reconcile me to God, who is life himself. “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).

Manly Missionary Monks

This Fall I will be teaching Medieval History (and Theology) in the Blue Ridge Teaching Cooperative in our local homeschool association. It will be based on the textbook Omnibus II: Church Fathers through the Reformation. We will be reading and discussing the following primary sources: Eusebius, The Church History Augustine, St., Confessions Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People Geoffrey, The History of the Kings of Britain Luther, Martin. The Bondage of the Will

Today I have been reading about the monk Bede, who wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English People.

"A common misconception about early medieval monasteries is that they were places where monks went to escape from civilization. But the opposite is true: monks boldly went into untamed places and carved out fresh civilization by establishing monasteries. In doing so they carried literacy to place where people could not read, food to where people were underfed, medicine to the sick, and most importantly, they carried the Christian gospel to people who had not heard of Jesus” (Omnibus II, 90-91).

I also found it interesting that Bede was the first to mark time with reference to the birth of Christ. In Latin he wrote, “ante vero incarnationis dominicae tempus” (“the time before the Lord's true incarnation”). This was translated into English and popularized as “Before Christ” and abbreviated B.C. Bede also used and popularized an earlier time marker, the Latin phrase anno Domini, “the year of our Lord,” abbreviated A.D. (Omnibus II, 95; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_Christ).

The Benefits of Community

I have uploaded last Sunday's Bible teaching: The Benefits of Community from Eccl 4:9-12. Listen, download, or subscribe is the Teaching Audio player in the right sidebar. Here are the main principles we discussed: 1. When we live in community, we produce more from our labor (v. 9). 2. When we live in community, we can help one another in weakness and failure (v. 10). 3. When we live in community, we can meet one another's needs (v. 11). 4. When we live in community, we are stronger in battle (v. 12).

"He who loves money will not be satisfied with money. . . .Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep."

Ecclesiastes 5:10, 12

The Benefits of Local Government

I was recently trying to explain to a friend of mine some of the basic principles upon which I base my philosophy of government. I was amazed to read a verse this morning (which I don’t remember reading before) that seems to explain one of these principle very well.

“If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them” (Eccl 5:8).

Solomon connects the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness with multi-layered bureaucracy that places power further and further from the people. It has been observed throughout history that power has the tendency to corrupt those who have it. Lord Acton wrote, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” His conclusion is that the extent of the power is proportionate to the corruption.

How do we construct a government that reduces the probability of this tendency playing out? By allowing as much power as possible to be held by as many as possible as close to the people as possible. All I’m really talking about here is an emphasis on local government. This gives ownership, responsibility, and accountability to the people and those who lead them. It means that leaders are leading in their own communities so they have a vested interest. The well being of their lives, and that of their family and friends is directly affected by their leadership. And they are directly accountable to the people they are leading.

I would not argue, thought, that there is no need for centralized government and I acknowledge that there are certain matters that are best dealt with at that level. Some believe that an emphasis on local government with more leaders than less is inefficient. I have two responses to this argument. First, I believe local government is much more effective in preventing the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, which is more important than whatever efficiency may be in mind. Second, I would argue that the efficiency of a centralized government is an illusion. The further government gets from the people that it is supposed to be serving, the more resources are required to maintain it.

Prayer “often takes the form of importunity, passionate pleading to God, even wrestling with God. Such an attitude presupposes that God’s ultimate will is unchanging, but the way in which he chooses to realize this will is dependent on the prayers of his children. He wants us as covenant partners, not as automatons or slaves. In this restricted sense prayer may be said to change the will of God. But more fundamentally it is sharing with God our needs and desires so that we might be more fully conformed to his ultimate will and purpose.” - D. G. Bloesch, "Prayer," in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 867.

"Theology is inseparable from spirituality. Theology is concerned not only with the Logos but also the Spirit who reveals and applies the wisdom of Christ to our hearts." - D. G. Bloesch, "Prayer," in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 866.