I love being home for many reasons. I have been home now for ten days and in an entirely different mind set. The Christmas Eve 2022 Alexis is not the January 3, 2023 Alexis and that is a good thing. I am content with my lot in life. That is the best of feelings, it is superb.
As is my bent I Googled lot in life finding it defined as someone’s general situation in life. The origin of this phrase is in the Bible. Ecclesiastes 5: 18-20. Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of this life that God has given him for this is his lot.
A further explanation of this unique phrase was given. “The real situation of our daily lives (lot) and the work of our daily purpose (toil). We start with faith by believing in the God who holds in himself ultimate meaning. Life may be full of vaporous vanity, but God is substantial and completely worthwhile.”
Ecclesiastes 6.9 also concerns itself with this concept. “Futility and striving after wind is an apt description for a life lived in constant pursuit of fulfilling an appetite that will only grow its demands. But we can live a fulfilled life by being thankful for what we have, what our eyes see, being grateful for where we are and the stewardship we have been granted.”
Ecclesiastes waxes eloquently, again in 8:15” So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.”
Here is a confession. I did not know if Ecclesiastes was in the New or the Old Testament. I foun the answer in good old Wikipedia,. “Ecclesiastes 6 is the sixth chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] The book contains philosophical speeches by a character called ‘(the) Qoheleth’ (“the Teacher”), composed probably between the 5th and 2nd centuries BC.[3] Peshitta, Targum, and Talmud attribute the authorship of the book to King Solomon.[4] This chapter deals with wealth and insatiability.”
Wikipedia tells us more about wealth citing section 6. “This section focuses on the theme of wealth, to whom God gives it and its trappings, that the rich may live long and have much, but may die unsatisfied and unmourned,[13] while someone else would ultimately enjoy the riches; therefore, they are worse off than a stillborn child, which at least finds rest.
There is much more in Wikipedia. I urge you to read it all – merely type Ecclesiastes 6 in Google and up it should pop.
This is fitting into my reading of Martin Ling’s fascinating book, as King Solomon plays a large role in the Islamic faith. You shall see the cover of the book at the conclusion of this blog.
But all of this is a bit serious and perhaps it is time. Time for a little humor from our favorite Andy Borowitz who takes aim at Mr. Musk.
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—Recognizing him for his “relentless contributions to the weariness of humanity,” Time has named Elon Musk the Most Exhausting Person of 2022.
In bestowing the title on Musk, Time cited the Twitter C.E.O.’s “nonstop but fruitless efforts to fill the yawning chasm of his soul by seeking the attention of indifferent strangers.
Filing the yawning chasm of his soul really does echo the Biblical injunction. Andy gives us more, speaking of other contenders for the Most Exhausting Person. In order to win the Most Exhausting crown, Musk bested a formidable list of contenders, including Kanye West, Kari Lake, and Senator Joe Manchin. Most impressive, he wrested the title from Donald J. Trump, who had won the honor every year from 2016 to 2021.
The Time editors’ decision drew no immediate response from Musk, who was preoccupied with a Twitter poll asking his followers what he should have for lunch.”
That is laughable, Mr. Musk was busy asking his followers what he should have for lunch. Actually, it is satire but it is totally believable. Guys like that want people in their grip, as if people do not have anything else to worry about, or work at, or concern themselves with. If Elon asked me what he should have for lunch I would respond.
Me: I really do not care what you have for lunch. Trump is not busy these days, ask him.
He: Alright I will then. Do you want me to tell you what he says?
Me: Of course not. Just keep it a secret between the two of you.
Another one of Andy’s gems concerns itself with USA politics but it is still funny and could be used in any political context.
“PHOENIX (The Borowitz Report)—The former anchorwoman Kari Lake said it is “totally unfair” that some liars, such as George Santos, got to win their elections but she did not.
In a local television interview, an apoplectic Lake said that Santos’s success and her failure “show that not all liars are treated equally in the United States of America.”
Not all liars are treated equally in the USA is funny. I wonder if this is true in Canada as well. I guess we shall see how things play out in the province of Alberta which is in Canada. (This for the USA readers who are not aware of what lies North of them).
But Andy saves the best for last. “I spread some perfectly normal lies about my election being stolen, and I go down in flames,” she said. “Meanwhile, this Santos clown claims he did everything but walk on the moon and invent the iPhone, and he sails to victory. I don’t want to live in an America like that.”Hoping to prevent the unfair treatment of liars like her, Lake is proposing a new federal law that she calls No Liar Left Behind.“I will not rest until every liar in this nation wins,” she said.”
I love No Liar Left Behind as the name of a Federal Law. So that is it for today. Two men are professing their love for me. One is proposing marriage, but he has before and he did not show up at the airport. This time I am going nowhere. I am rethinking plans for Ramadan as well. More about that later.
I have a lot of reading to do. The book is absolutely engrossing and it is a means of worship, not recognized by those of the male dominated ‘old school’ Muslims. More about that later.
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