Today's Scripture Reading (December 12, 2022): Ecclesiastes 3
I love Klaatu's "Mrs. Toad's Cookies." It was the Canadian rock bands' attempt to write a Children's song. Sometimes, our efforts to communicate an idea to
children also gets an idea through to some of us stubborn adults. The lyrics to
"Mrs. Toad's Cookies" teach us a very important lesson.
Mrs. Toad baked some cookies
And Mr. Toad had a ball
But when he finished eating the green sugar
cookies
Well, his tummy couldn't hold them all
Oh no
No his tummy couldn't hold them all
And he said, Ooh, good is good and bad is bad
As any baker knows
But too, too much good can be as sadly sad
As too much bad, you know (John Woloschuk and
Dino Tome)
It is a lesson many adults need to
take to heart. Twenty-five hundred years ago,
Socrates was
credited with saying,
"Everything in moderation, nothing in excess." It is an adult way of saying, "But too, too much good can be as sadly sad as too
much bad, you know." It is excess that often threatens our happiness.
Politically, I am a centrist.
I believe that the middle ground is where we must stay as a society. The extremes, in everything,
carry us closer to destruction. As a society, the temptation always seems to
exist that wants to move us to the extremes, but the middle ground is where
we should strive to be. I often feel like I am not getting it right unless no one is happy. I have found that the place where everyone has to give up something that we
think is valuable is important, and it is in the giving that I think we learn an important lesson about
moderation.
Qoheleth reminds us that
there is a time for every activity under heaven. We don't live on the edges but in the middle. And there will
be times when we will get what we want and times when we will give it away. Somehow, we need to stay in the
middle. Because we all know that "too much good can be as sadly sad as too
much bad."
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Ecclesiastes 4
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