Heard in Quiet

Heard in quiet

Heard in quiet

Words of the wise

Are heard in the quiet

Scripture says:
The words of the wise

Are better than

The shouting of a ruler

Among fools.

Wisdom is better

Than weapons of war,

But one sinner –

All by himself –

Destroys much good.

It’s the same for all;

As the good one is,

So is the sinner.

He who swears

Is as he who shuns

An oath.

The same event

Happens to the good,

The clean, as the unclean,

To the righteous

As to the evil,

wicked.

Heard in quiet

Heard in quiet

Words of the wise

Are heard in the quiet

Now,

Join with the living;

For a dog alive

Is better than

A lion dead,

His memory

Forgotten.

So

Have hope, share in

Joy you did not know;

In all that is done

Under the sun,

Have hope –

There’s a little love left –

Have hope.

Heard in quiet

Heard in quiet

Words of the wise

Are heard in the quiet

_________________________________________________

I was considering writing something in honor of Tom Petty, who, at the time of this writing, is still hanging to life after being found unconscious yesterday in his Malibu home, apparently after suffering a catastrophic cardiac arrest.  I decided not to try that since Mr. Petty has already written everything worth saying about what happened yesterday. Instead, I decided to catch up on my bible study. Today’s bible reading included Ecclesiastes 9. It changed my mind. 

So, in honor of Mr. Petty, and for all those with broken hearts after yesterday’s events in Las Vegas:

Ecclesiastes 9:17-18

The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 9:4-6

But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. (ESV)Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 9:2

It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. (ESV)