Frustration is better than laughter

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 says, "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure."

These verses may seem backwards than what we feel in our collective realities. Frustration is better than laughter? Mourning better than pleasure? How does that work? What's going on here? Because to me, it feels an awful lot like I'd rather laugh than mourn. I don't believe this verse is saying there is anything wrong with joy, happiness, and laughter, but because this passage makes no initial sense, it begs to be read again and again.

In my life experience, the times I've been closest to God have been out of times of frustration, times of deep mourning or lament, times when the illusion of life being in my control is most obviously illusion.

To put things bluntly, everybody dies and we shouldn't ignore this fact. How is the knowledge that you will die someday effect how you live your life? Us living people should take this to heart. Why is this corona virus pandemic so serious? It brings us closer to the uncomfortable reality of our mortality and we don't want to think about it right now. A hundred years after your death, your existence will have been forgotten.

What do you do with your frustration and your mourning? I heard an old SNL veteran say in an interview that comedy is just pain. It's duty is accomplished by hiding the heavy burden of life. I don't always trust people's jovial mood's because they can just be a mask, a lie covering up deep sorrow, but I've never stumbled upon a fake sad face. There's something so raw about it. I've witnessed and have even been a part of God's healing power through tears and prayer. It's in the times that I've willingly stared pain in the face that I've been transformed. So often we feel frustrated and we don't want to feel it, so we run to pleasure, laughter, novacaine, addictions, gossip, slander, violence, or whatever will dissipate the stress.

News stories that make us sad? Click, find something else. Pictures of people dying in hospitals? Click, Netflix. Pain hurts. That's obvious. If the only pain you've been feeling this past month has been not seeing people in person, having to balance work and parenting simultaneously, or even being out of a job, that would be enough to rattle anyone. It's easy to feel the most hurt for our own situations. However, I challenge you to enter in to someone else's pain. They may not express their hurt fully, but imagining how you would be feeling going through their stuff and connecting with them or even praying for them can be used in amazing ways by God. In fact, why don't you take a minute right now, maybe two minutes if you need, and think about someone you know personally that is going through a rough time (either because of the corona virus or not), imagine how you would be feeling if that same thing was happening to you, and pray for them. Enter into their hurt willingly. I'm still amazed that Jesus wept with the sisters when their brother Lazarus died, even though he knew that in a moment he would be raised back to life. Jesus entered into their pain, and he does our pain as well, in order to bring life, to bring healing. Allow God to show you how life can come from death. Pray for that person. If you're being led, call them and pray for them over the phone or over some video call.

Quick Ministry Update - We held our first virtual BLOCK meeting on Tuesday with about 15 participants. It was encouraging to see people's faces again after about a month and a half. In weeks, prior to this meeting, we've contacted parents and students to make sure they had everything they needed--computers, wifi, food, or other resources. In case you couldn't think of someone in the above exercise, let me tell you about Ja'von's mom. Ja'von is an 8th grader who has come to 2nd Mile just this past year. The high school director and I dropped off little treat bags and drink bags for the students this week to let the kids know we've been thinking about them. When I went to deliver Ja'von's, I got to talk to his mom. Unfortunately I forgot to ask her name (God knows) but she was recently denied food stamps for the months of May, June, and July. She does not have a car. Thankfully her husband still works and takes the family car to work. Her kids are in virtual school and Ja'von has fallen behind. She has been helping him catch up with his homework and struggles to put food on the table. Thankfully in our neighborhood, students can get a free lunch at any public school, with the exception that a parent or guardian is present. Without a car, this asthma-having mom cannot always make the walk (closest school with lunches is maybe a mile away in the Florida heat). She was in the hospital with an upper respiratory infection (tests were negative for covid) and she is not allowed to go back to her job until she has proof from a doctor that her health is improving. How would you be feeling as a mother? As a provider? As a worker? Please say a prayer for her and her family. Enter into that pain. It's been easy for me to include people's names and situations in my prayer requests and ignore the hurt and pain that comes with it. Say a prayer now if you can spare a minute, enter into that pain.

This exercise may not have been "fun", but hopefully you found it good for the heart. 

"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure."

Backyard fun on the daily

Treat bags for BLOCK students to enjoy