Eat, Drink & Be Mary: A Glimpse into a Life Well Lived

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Not that I haven’t always ALSO been a loving, giving, well-meaning, of service, helpful, insightful, high-functioning, achieving, loyal person. But there was that other aspect that rendered me… challenging. A wounded animal is sometimes a little rough around the edges, for sure. Just for a moment instead of grain think of money, lots of it; there is uncertainty in the world, how do you protect it, what do you do with it? Well there are people around the world who have found a very lucrative way of keeping it, hiding it, and making it grow. Driving throughout London would give you a flavour of what I mean. Builders vans everywhere and work going on in almost every property; houses being turned into mini palaces. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”If from a human point of view I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what did it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.”- Ecclesiastes 8:15 (KJV) In Isaiah 22, the prophet warns the people of Jerusalem that their hypocritical nature will be their downfall. When the Lord had called for weeping and mourning over impending invasion, instead the people said flippantly, “Let us eat and drink . . . for tomorrow we die” (verse 13). God’s response to their disobedience was to proclaim, “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for” (verse 14). So, I'm all for just going ahead and having a good time - the best possible. The only earthly good men and women can look forward to is to eat and drink well and have a good time - compensation for the struggle for survival these few years God gives us on earth." - The Message But wait, God has indeed given us one life on earth to bring others to Him. Shouldn’t we live like we’re going to die, and tell people that they only have one life to get right with God?

ˌeat, drink and be ˈmerry

Over the millenia in Israel, there have been many property disputes. Looking into the recent past we might remember The Golan Hights, The West Bank and several other Palastinian enclaves within Israel. Since the end of WW2 the modern Jewish diaspora from Eastern Europe and Africa have responded, in vast numbers, to the Jewish call to come home. This has caused massive pressure for land on which to house them. The result has been one of the biggest land grabs in history, and this by God’s chosen people, through the Israeli authorities. Reflecting on all of this in meditation, I realized that what was being revealed in my dream were aspects of myself that still exist, and that need tenderness, acceptance, and forgiveness. These are aspects of my personality that became wounded and distorted owing to the early traumas of loss, abandonment, and abuse—leading to a life that felt, at core, unsafe, unwelcoming of my soul, and unfriendly. Pulpit Commentary Verse 19. - And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. "What folly!" writes St. Basil. "Had thy soul been a sty, what else couldst thou have promised to it? Art thou so ignorant of what really belongs to the soul, that thou offerest to it the foods of the body? And givest thou to thy soul the things which the draught receives?" Many years. How little did that poor fool, so wise in all matters of earthly business, suspect the awful doom was so close to him! He forgot Solomon's words, "Boast not thyself of to-morrow" ( Proverbs 27:1). Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. "Extremes meet," suggests Dean Plumptre; "and the life of self-indulgence may spring either from an undue expectation of a lengthened life" (as was the case here), "or from unduly dwelling on its shortness, without taking into account the judgment that comes after it. The latter, as in the 'carpe diem' of Horace ('Odes,' 1:11. 8), was the current language of popular epicureanism" (see St. Paul's reproduction of this thought, 1 Corinthians 15:32); "the former seems to have been more characteristic of a corrupt Judaism." The concept of enjoying earthly life as much as possible because there’s nothing after death is unbiblical. The Bible is clear that there is an eternal spiritual existence after corporeal death, and that existence includes judgment for all (Hebrews 9:27). Those who have been made righteous by faith in Christ will experience eternal life in heaven, but those who reject Christ as Savior will be sent to eternal punishment in hell (Matthew 25:46).

I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry."' What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many good things laid up for many years; take your rest; eat, drink, be merry."' Jesus tells us that He is the way, the truth, and the life, no one can come to the Father except through Him ( John 14:6). It is in our surrender of control, identity, and life to Jesus that we receive lifelong satisfying joy. Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself."’Then I'll say to myself, "You've stored up a lot of good things for years to come. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself."' So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah. This then, was what Jesus was talkiing about, when he was challenged by someone in the crowd, asking him to tell his brother to divide the family inheritance, to share it out. But Jesus was not going to solve this particular family’s property dispute. No he replied ‘who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’. Jesus warned the crowd they had wrong priorities, they needed to set their thoughts on things above and not those on earth. Better to be generous with all God’s gifts, and when there is a surpluce, to share it out, not garner it in and keep it for later. God’s promise is to provide for all our needs and not our selfishness. Over the past 20 years, I’ve been working with the Sacred Master known as Mother Mary to assist me. I’ve come to relate with her not only as a mother, but also as a teacher, a mentor, and a model for spiritual growth.