"For we are his workmanship (poiema), created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance that we should do them." Ephesians 2:10. "
I read these words in the whole context
of the book of Ecclesiastes.
When “all is vanity”, what comes next?
“Excess” say some enthusiast-ees.
“Eat, drink, and be merry.” - Don't we lose
the goal - when pleasure's all we achieve.
"Work" is that prepared gift from God we use
for outcomes which man cannot unweave.
Even Solomon ends, this thought in mind
“Fear God and keep all His commandments.”
Ponder, if God is the judge, we'll find
in the final grave, rightful recompense.
Where the Lord's wisdom and strength are compromised,
labor loses when self is lionized.
Cast thy stones, cast thy stones,
Come ye one and all.
For ne’er were truer words than these:
“Pride cometh before the fall.”
Come ye saints, come ye church,
Let this be our creed:
“Despite the beams within our eyes,
This worn world was born to bleed.”
Come ye thieves, come ye whores,
Cast them if you may.
A martyr was I called to be,
So do so both brisk and gay.
What is sloth? What is greed?
All is vanity.
Have mercy priest and holy bride,
For sanity is my plea.
Take great heed, fellow saints!
For this is my creed:
“Forsake all pride and vanity,
Lest my cast stones make you bleed.”
Poetry has left me again
I’ve bled the hills and trees for words
I’ve searched for verbs in the hours
When someone fills the emptiness
I will have no need for pronouns
No talk or fragments fulfills you
I woke frenzied in the morning
Put on headphones to muzzle thoughts
Anything but to hear your silence
When coffers are empty of nouns
I scrape the bottom of the barrel
Hoping for slick prepositions
You goad me to write an opus
To paint my vain adjectives true
To color not wanting replies
Resurrect wordly as Jesus did
Real as adverbs without fullness
To ascend to servers in glory
Craft a mind razor-sharp each day
Cutting through pronoun’s bull
Swinging conjunctions as swords
This poem has hemorrhaged me
I’ve bled for you till nothing’s left
Grammar paler with my emptiness
Careless of my prideful sharpening
Decimating mourning subjects
Fill me when objects go empty
*** Ecclesiastes 1:2
'Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.'
I
Waiting ...
Not on the LORD
But on a phone call
So, I turn to poetry
Led by Jesus & His Word
"All is vanity"
II
I know there's nothing new
Something Solomon knew
Wrote about in "Ecclesiastes"
All is vanity, under the sun
I seek heat under His Son
But the dead world will beckon
If not for wealth, then a wise wife
Will I make her my new idol?
The end of all is vanity,
damnation so accused
The mirror speaking falsely
—of promise purple hued
(Dreamsleep: June, 2022)
I
Lord, without You, what is time?
Over and over, Seconds may drag like days
Revealing relativity, time is not a thing
Deliver me from vanity, "All is vanity," wrote Solomon, who asked You for wisdom
II (joke recycling business)
Honesty is the best policy - only for our enemies to follow
NOTE:
My joke was lost this morning (thank u, & I forgive u, Cyberspace Monster). My additional prayer was lost just now. I wanted to say how God saw my hands in praise for miracles I needed; He saw pure hands uplifted, only because I hang on to the coattails of His Dear Son, Jesus. He sees all our faces & hands with Grace through The Lambs Sacrifice, hallelujah. Amen in Jesus' mighty, love-ly, Name
Oh! How great our existence is only a rolling ball,
We're birthed to
Cry by self at birth or forced to cry.
Suck and dependent,
Start talking and mingle,
Crawl and dependent,
Walk by self or force to walk,
Dine and eat on parent's bill,
Attend schools or go vocational,
Graduate and work,
Search and date,
Wedding introduction and marriage,
Or decide to remain single,
Enjoy life or otherwise.
The stage of total independence.
Religious or diabolical,
Ruled by greed or selflessness,
Give birth or barren,
Grow gray and agile or weak,
Then several symptoms set in,
Get from children or being totally ignored.
Back to the total dependence,
Suck from the past fruits,
Weak and die,
That all mourn and cry.
Vanity upon vanity
All is vanity so says the wise.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36)
Which, Wisdom / Knowledge?
Man’s lures are his personal achievements, once gained.
His 'existential stance toward life', if maintained.
‘Vanity of vanities’ that depress.
This is where silence ('oblivion') and forgetfulness exist.
The ‘consensus of scholars’ supposition this as ‘weariness of the flesh’.
A ‘disquisition on life that tells us’ “vanity of vanities, all is vanity”.
Idolatry of the material world manifests abandonment in the belief in God.
What a world formed where norm becomes infused with “cruelty, ultimate injustice, frustration, no truth or meaning.”
Where life is without reasoning.
*******
Inspired by The Terror of Existence: From Ecclesiastes to Theatre of the Absurd Kindle Edition by Theodore Dalrymple (Author), Kenneth Francis (Author)
Happy the woman who is the first wife
Happy the son who is the first born
Happy the pupil who is the first in class
Happy the soldier who is the first in a pile
Happy the cow who is the first in a pond
Happy the demon who is the first in pardon
Happy the man who is unhappy
Happy or unhappy all is vanity
In this dangling climate-toxic earth
Peace
I search, I ponder, but to no avail,
I march to the tune, my vessel doth sail.
Up, down, all around, from hither to thither,
From warm to hot, from cold to shiver.
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,
Full of labor, is there no sanity.
Some are crooked, some are straight,
Some are round, left to its own fate.
From riches to rags, from rags to riches,
From dull to wise, only others to clichés.
No profit, no profit, what am I to do?
From man’s store house of wisdom, I have no clue.
I yearned; I cried, there must be some peace,
A glitter of light, I laid out a fleece.
My plea dear God, show me the way,
Amity came close, God made my day!
THIS BODY OF MINE
Woe upon woes offing
To my creator I owe a debt
After this voyage of mine on earth
And I, to this burden of death endureth.
Woe upon this body of mine
‘Tis a stinking sand
This dust return; my soul demand
The thorns of life chokes, my spirit rebrand.
What fate has this body, but dust...?
For all this attention to beauty is vanity
But beauty of eternity neither fades nor bust
Below this earth the frame of man will suffer rust.
Oh man prepare your bed with fear
To your crown of joy be bold to hold
Lean on your master; his precept adhere
Then your tomb of fear will he turn to care.
What then shall we say is life?
With all man's ego and pride
We often ask, “do you know who I am?"
Why boast when your breath you cannot boost?
On earth we gather all the perishable fortunes,
They transcend not but here it ends.
To this end, man reflect and learn
That this body, an impending meal
To maggot a perfect feast
Be not proud with title too,
For all is vanity without excuse.
Technology and Fashion
The human imperfect creation
That changes from generation to generation
Coming daily with better innovation
Oh followers of fashion!
Oh how I adore your passion
To fulfill your “Look-good” ambition
Which has always been your vision
The amount to get it does not matter
You must get Balenciaga
Oh worshippers of Technology
I must get the latest Infinix phone
Or maybe I should go for Samsung phone
Perhaps Tecno or Injoo Or even Nokia phone
But why running a race you cannot win
Even if you win you-win
You spent so much to get the latest today
And tomorrow it becomes outdated
Should that not tell you all is Vanity upon Vanity?
ABSOL - 07032277508
Here he lies lifeless
He whose hands had many healed
though unsung by some
Now, we cheer him home
Down his homestead, we set him
Our selfless hero!
Pain is the pleasure
of earthly patriotism...
Fame is for a time
Though the rose blossoms
on fields where good does not stay,
it withers at dusk
Kindness lives briefer
Twilight comes after sunset
All is vanity!
?what is this life,
if all we do is acquire it’s wealth and forsake the master above?
I do not seek that all should comprehend,
but heed the kings advice…
“vanity upon vanity, all is vanity”.
Everyday life brings to us numerous challenges,
press on brethren, they are only temporal.
they are here to make us and not break us.
Take the bull by its horn,
live each day with your eye focused on the goal;
that heavenly prize.
the time is now, it waits for no man.
make hay while the light still shines,
because at the darkest hour…
the flames may be gone.
DO NOT BARGAIN WITH LIFE
He who think he is standing
Should be mindful so that he fall not.
Life has so many ways of dealing
With individuals according to their mindset.
Let he that sit, sit properly in peace
Least he is pull up by another mightier,
Life itself is mysterious and funny in nature.
I have been foolish once and see
The outcome of folly then I ran to
Wisdom and behold the troubles
Of being uncommon wise among men.
In all I discovered that all is vanity
In excessive use and acquire of them.
Wisdom has her own penny to offer
And foolishness has his own coin to give.
What life offers me might be different from yours,
So, when standing; do not be over righteous in your standing, neither will you be too stupid in your sitting
For loving your neighbour as yourself does not
Includes you bathing your neighbour without his consent.
Life herself have so much troubles and shortcomings.
You are the master of your fate,
What life gives to you sometimes is
Of your making and your actions which had been sown.
Do not bargain with life for a penny,
The man who thinks he can, wins.
Life is governed by your mindset and thought.
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