Mourning in the Morning

The pastor at my grandmothers funeral last weekend shared a scripture from the book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 7. I am not sure what version he shared from, but in the Message it reads a little something like this:

"Sages invest themselves in hurt and grieving. Fools waste their lives in fun and games."

My first response was confusion. If being wise requires investing in hurt and grieving, well then I would rather be a fool. The verse did not make much sense out of context for me, especially in the situation it was applied.

This morning I went back to the scripture in Ecclesiastes to get a better understanding of what it might be saying. At the heart of the passage was taking things for granted. The chapter's closing really clarified the point and changed my outlook on the passage:

"On a good day, enjoy yourself;
On a bad day, examine your conscience,
God arranges both kinds of daysSo that we won't take anything for granted."

Funerals are those few times in your life when you realize just how much you have taken you loved ones for granted. Often times it is to late to do anything about it. It is the wise who take opportunities such as these to invest themselves in the hurt and grieving, to genuinely mourn, in a effort to really understand how truly blessed we are.

If wise person takes nothing for granted, I would like to work on becoming a little wiser. How bout you?