present and in awe.

For All Those that Emo

Friday, September 12, 2008 @ 9:02 pm.

If you want a prime example of "Emo", go read Ecclesiastes. But there is also a solution. I shall tell you at the end of this post.

I once had a conversation with my father via sms. I can't remember exactly what I said, because I deleted my messages in a regular clean-out. I saved my father's replies though.

Begin: 01 19 h (approx), 14 Jun 2008
Me (roughly): I can't sleep. I suddenly felt like lying on the floor and crying my heart out in despair when I look at what the world has become today.
Father (roughly): At the world as in what way?
Me (roughly): You know, how people are falling to sin more. Rising numbers of homosexuals. That sort of thing.
Father (exact): Honestly, the situation today is no worse than when Jesus was on the earth. The evil in the world will only cease when the devil and all his followers are cast into hell when Jesus returns :)
Father (exact): Homosexuals have been around since the days of Sodom. If you look at the corruption in the world you will despair... We can't fix it. But if you look to Jesus and you see a Saviour :) only God can fix it :)
I asked him what I was supposed to do then.
Father (exact): I guess by first committing everything to God, trusting in his promise to protect those who place their trust in him, then focusing on what I can control, then on what I can influence, then on things beyond my control or influence, to leave that to him. :) Are you preparing for your monologue?

Okay, that last part didn't have any relevance at all.

End: 01 26 h, 14th Jun 2008

That night, we were all staying at my grandmother's house and I couldn't sleep. I was lying on the makeshift bed thing that seemed more like a sofa without a back, with my sister and my brother sound asleep around me.

I looked out the window. Then I started crying.

------
Ecclesiastes is one of the more prominent examples of "emo" in the Bible. It was written by King Solomon in the later years of his life. And here we are experiencing similar things in our teens.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 1
Everything Is Meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher, ^[a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
3 What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.

And yet, twelve chapters later, King Solomon managed to come to a conclusion:

Ecclesiastes 12

1 Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
"I find no pleasure in them"-
2 before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain;
3 when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim;
4 when the doors to the street are closed
and the sound of grinding fades;
when men rise up at the sound of birds,
but all their songs grow faint;
5 when men are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags himself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then man goes to his eternal home
and mourners go about the streets.
6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
or the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
or the wheel broken at the well,
7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. ^[a]
"Everything is meaningless!"
The Conclusion of the Matter
9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

So when you look at the world, under the sun, you will despair.
It's what's above the sun that counts.