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Tuesday 20 January 2015

Wisdom of Solomon

I just finished reading the the books by Solomon and only when viewing it as a whole that I could, with the help of the Holy spirit understand the wisdom of Solomon. He answers one of the greatest question in life. Why are we on earth and how do we fulfill that purpose. But the greatest thing is that his answer is theologically and logically sound, very satisfying to our human desire and amazingly simple. No wonder he is called wise. I suppose, at some point, things could be too obvious that only a genius could notice.
The answer is cliché. We exist to glorify God by enjoying him forever. Even in this fallen world, that remains true on a pragmatic level. We shall enjoy God through his creations such as comfort food, strong drinks, passionate sex and using our talents.
The bible is very plain about these things. Through numerous occasions and imagery, food and wine are entertainments that God create for us to relish. This is hard to fathom in our age given media portrayal of these where the sweet and savory become diabetic, cancerous and an open invitation to cardiovascular diseases. It seems that eating is like walking on a thin rope between obesity and anorexia. Even worse, we are made to believe that indulging in gourmet dishes shall come with a price of guilt, as if it is a sin. A similar narrative is also told about alcohol and other substances. There is a black and white thinking where it is either a teetotaler or a party animal. Whoever in between is just having a transient detour to the extremes.
These views are not biblical. A quick naive reading of even these books of the bible will show that. More importantly, it is logical. Why would God makes enjoyable things enjoyable if they are not meant to be enjoyed.
The same apply to sex and work. We are made for these pleasurable things. They are not necessary evils. Instead, God in his infinite creativity, design these with the zenith of pleasure in mind. Both of these are so important, a whole book is dedicated for each of them: song of songs and ecclesiastes. The first so unabashedly details courtship,  marriage, foreplay, oral sex, defloration and love making in the most graphic, romantic, beautiful, poetic, sensual and holy way ever imaginable. According to the bible, sex is to be celebrated and lusting passion to be titillated. It is not a taboo.
And to work is not a curse. In fact, dream and practice of retirement and abstinence from toil and labour is a sin. The work that God has in mind is not slaving for a day job, rather an actualization of the talents that he has blesses us with, through discipline, diligence and expert mastery of our arts and crafts. The curse is that the earth won't reciprocate our sweats. That's why we rely on the common grace.
But most importantly is the book of proverbs that tells us how to enjoy these things. True satisfaction and God glorification goes hand in hand - one cannot exist without the other - for that's God design. We shall relish in the comfort of food but we shall not be a glutton. We shall find merriment in wine but not be drunk which is sinful. We shall enjoy sex only through our one married differently gendered spouse and nothing else. We shall enjoy fruits our labor, knowing fully well that it is by grace and not through our work.
From what I understand, this is the wisdom of the wisest man. Eat, drink, fuck, and work. That way, you manifest your destiny to enjoy and glorify God. Logical and theological rigor, with hedonistic seal of approval that everyone could understand. The true display of godly wisdom.
P.s. yes there are many things that I don't mention like the issue of wealth and also fasting which is also good and ordained. Yet there is just one point that I want to make and an end that I have to reach. Otherwise, if I want to make a perfect blog post, I could just copy paste the entire bible here and be just technically correct.