Calmness

I recently wrote this verse on the chalkboard that hangs in my kitchen. It could never have been more true than at Middle School Registration yesterday.

Ecc 10:4 Calmness can lay great errors to rest

When I found that verse on Monday it just hit home with me. It seemed perfect for my kitchen....a perfect reminder for me and my family as we are MOST spirited! But, as my week has gone on...the verse has intrigued me in a big way. So this morning, I find myself wanting to know more.....why was that verse there? What is before and after that verse???? So I go to Ecclesiastes and I read. How can anyone read that and find the Bible NOT relavant to today? I pray that this blesses you in some way - because it surely has blessed me and I KNOW it will help me on my day entering a more than busy weekend.


Ecclesiastes 10 (The Message Translation)

1 Dead flies in perfume make it stink, And a little foolishness decomposes much wisdom.

2 Wise thinking leads to right living;
Stupid thinking leads to wrong living.

3 Fools on the road have no sense of direction.
The way they walk tells the story: "There goes the fool again!"

4 If a ruler loses his temper against you, don't panic;
A calm disposition quiets intemperate rage.
5-7 Here's a piece of bad business I've seen on this earth, An error that can be blamed on whoever is in charge:
Immaturity is given a place of prominence,
While maturity is made to take a backseat.
I've seen unproven upstarts riding in style,
While experienced veterans are put out to pasture.

8 Caution: The trap you set might catch you.
Warning: Your accomplice in crime might double-cross you.

9 Safety first: Quarrying stones is dangerous.
Be alert: Felling trees is hazardous.

10 Remember: The duller the ax the harder the work;
Use your head: The more brains, the less muscle.

11 If the snake bites before it's been charmed,
What's the point in then sending for the charmer?

12-13 The words of a wise person are gracious.
The talk of a fool self-destructs—
He starts out talking nonsense
And ends up spouting insanity and evil.

14 Fools talk way too much,
Chattering stuff they know nothing about.

15 A decent day's work so fatigues fools
That they can't find their way back to town.

16-17 Unlucky the land whose king is a young pup,
And whose princes party all night.
Lucky the land whose king is mature,
Where the princes behave themselves
And don't drink themselves silly.

18 A shiftless man lives in a tumbledown shack;
A lazy woman ends up with a leaky roof.

19 Laughter and bread go together,
And wine gives sparkle to life—
But it's money that makes the world go around.

20 Don't bad-mouth your leaders, not even under your breath,
And don't abuse your betters, even in the privacy of your home.
Loose talk has a way of getting picked up and spread around.
Little birds drop the crumbs of your gossip far and wide.