Learning the Rest of One Open Hand
My dear son,
I hope you have room today to enjoy what is already yours. Reaching for more than someone else can make you miss the joy beside you. I want you to work faithfully and still have time for love and rest.
Do not spend all your days in endless competition, as though trying to catch the wind. A peaceful life with less can hold deep joy. Tell me what you are working for, and let us consider what matters most to you.
You do not need to measure today by another person's achievements tonight. Rest your body and receive what you have with gratitude. I love the ordinary hours when my child can laugh freely.
With all my love,
Your Father
Ecclesiastes 4:4–6
WEB4Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
5The fool folds his hands together and ruins himself.
6Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind.
A short reflection
The Teacher regards toil driven by rivalry as futile chasing after wind and values a smaller portion with quiet over relentless striving for more.
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