A meditation on the book of Ecclesiastes by Kim Aasland
This is not the time to dance or laugh or even embrace.
This is the time to weep
And to listen to the weeping of others and hold that in our hearts
If we are to build up, we must first tear down.
If we are to plant, we must first uproot what has been planted.
Let us not rush to make everything better
As if we could
Let us mourn
Let us go to the house of the Lord to listen
And may our words be few
Like the One who took on flesh
May we, too, enter into the reality of our brothers and sisters
Being willing to have our eyes fully opened
Let our hearts be broken as we hear their pain
Intensify our compassion, Lord
So that when one member of the body suffers, all suffer
To be willing to
Enter into to the pain of another
Now that is true love
Just as we shun embracing
That one day we may embrace
Let us tear down
That one day we may build up rightly
Let us mourn fully and completely
That one day we may dance.
Apart from Me 