But Ecclesiastes is a pretty good book to start on for people with depression.
Hey, Lynx.
I do not want to possibly derail this thread, but may I ask why you believe that Ecclesiastes is a pretty good book to start on for people with depression?
I am not saying that I either agree or disagree with your assessment, and I am certainly not asking in order to be contentious. In other words, I am simply seeking clarity as to why you said this.
The book of Ecclesiastes is definitely one of my favorite books of the Bible, and God only knows how many times I have read it and seriously meditated upon what is written therein.
Keeping this more in line with the topic of this thread, as you already know, I joke around quite a bit, but I must confess that the book of Ecclesiastes often convicts me of the same.
For example, Solomon said:
Ecclesiastes 2:2
"
I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?"
Again, he said:
Ecclesiastes 7:2-6
"It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity."
Solomon not only likened laughter to madness, but he also likened the laughter of the fool to the crackling of burning thorns under a pot. In context, he qualified who the fools are, and they are those who prefer the house of feasting or the house of mirth to the house of mourning.
I believe that it is human nature, as in the nature of the unregenerate, to desire laughter over sorrow, but Solomon said that sorrow is better than laughter because by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. Again, in context, he was making a contrast between somebody going to a house of feasting or to a party and somebody going to the house of mourning or to a wake.
Why would going to a wake be better than going to a party?
Because that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart. In other words, when we see that dead body lying in a casket, we ought to consider our own mortality, and the judgment which awaits us on the other side, and this is better than for us to be amusing ourselves at a party.
Anyhow, I do not want to sound like a "downer' here, but these are things that I believe we all ought to seriously consider.
In my own life's experiences, I know, of a certainty, that a lot of people like me when I am telling jokes, but they cannot stand me when I am seeking to talk to them about things pertaining to eternity.
Forget about other people.
Here is something that I have often observed in myself...
When faced with life's trials, and life is full of them, I often seek comfort in something humorous...like a comedic video.
In retrospect, time and time again, that has proven to be something of no real value to me whatsoever. Instead, it has always been the times when I have pressed even deeper into the things of God that I have truly gained something.
Just some thoughts...