This Wednesday at The Table

If you know the song Beautiful Boy by John Lennon then you know the line that says “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” As a teenager I found this idea incredibly profound and attempted to take its sentiment to heart. At 31 I’m beginning to worry that I’ve done way more planning than living, and I feel that I’m probably not alone in having that fear.

As great as Lennon was, he was hardly the first to realize that human beings spend far too much of their lives in the planning phases. One profound thinker to mull this idea over was King Solomon, often thought to be the wisest of all the kings of Israel. He wrote his ruminations down in the book of Ecclesiastes, easily one of the most difficult, enlightening, and ignored books of the Bible. I often wonder if the books of the Bible were to be re-evaluated today by the modern church if Ecclesiastes wouldn’t go the way of Maccabees.

This week we’re going to crack open Solomon’s tome and spend some time trying to figure out just how to make the most of the meaningless days of our lives (his words, not mine). If you have a chance before Wednesday give it a read. It’s not very long, but chances are you’ll have to stop more than once to scratch your head and (maybe) rethink your life.

We’ll see you at 6:30 on Wednesday night. The tea will be iced and the conversations will be waiting!

Tim (Penner)