Soundings

PART 15 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 9:1-18 IN A broadcast talk on Oct 1, 1939, Lord Randolph Churchill described Russia memorably as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. The writer of Ecclesiastes could have very well used these words to describe […]

PART 14 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 8:2-17 IN THIS chapter, the Preacher continues with what he does best – pointing out starkly the various seemingly insoluble enigmas in this existence under the sun. He begins his discourse by looking at earthly authority, stressing […]

PART 10 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: MODERN REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.” (5:1). IN RECENT years, a number of Christian writers have commented on the erosion of the worship of the evangeli-cal churches. Be it the […]

PART 9 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: MODERN REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 4:7-16 ONE of the most poignant songs by the country-rock group Eagles is the 1973 hit “Desperado”. It portrays a lonely, desperate man who spent his entire life chasing after fame and wealth, not realising that […]

PART 6 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: MODERN REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 IN THIS chapter, the Preacher reflects on the mystery of time in light of a profounder mystery, eternity. There is not a period in the history of thought that philosophers (and later, scientists) have not […]

OF GOLD TEETH-FILLINGS AND GOLD DUST RECENTLY much excitement was generated in some churches in different parts of the world by two phenomena that have to do with gold – gold teeth-fillings and gold dust. The first phenomenon was recently reported to have occurred at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, Sacramento, where some members of […]

PART 5 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: MODERN REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 2:12-26 THE Preacher continues his relentless quest for the meaning of life by once again turning to wisdom and comparing it with folly. Some commentators say that in this instance, the Preacher has in mind practical […]

RECENTLY, while doing research on biomedicine, I stumbled across the transcript of an interesting discussion on current research in memory formation conducted by the United States President’s Council on Bioethics. Two memory research experts, Dr James McGaugh and Dr Daniel Schachter, gave their reports at the dialogue chaired by Dr Leon Kass. What caught my […]

PART 3 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: MODERN REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 “KNOWLEDGE is Power!” Ever since Michel Foucault, the French post-modern philosopher, formulated it, this slogan has been repeated, mantra-like, by politicians, scientists, policy makers and intellectuals of every stripe. Of course, the slogan does give […]

PART 2 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: MODERN REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 “SOMETHING of no real worth”. That is how my old Webster Dictionary defines the word vanity. The New International Version of the Bible translates it as “meaningless”. Old Testament scholar Robert Davidson explains that vanity […]

We begin this month with a series of reflections on the Book of Ecclesiastes entitled ‘Wisdom to Live By: Modern Reflections on an Ancient Text’.   SINCE time immemorial human beings have been pondering over the meaning of life. “Why is there something, and not nothing?”, enquired the ancient Greek philosophers. What is the purpose […]

CONCLUDING THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘FAITH TO LIVE BY’ BEWARE OF 2 MISTAKES IDENTIFYING the biblical teaching of everlasting life with the idea of the “afterlife” that is found in most religions, THINKING of everlasting life in terms of the immortality of the soul. AS WE turn to the final statement of the Creed, […]