The Best House to Visit

Recently I watched the movie "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry".  It was a very good movie, I thought, as far as a very clear presentation of the Gospel being taught to both the characters in the film and to the audience watching the film.

In the movie, one passage of Scripture was presented twice and in an interesting way.  Individuals were taken to a graveyard as an object lesson for the passage Ecclesiastes 7:2-4: 

²It is better to go to a house of mourning
         Than to go to a house of feasting,
         Because that is the end of every man,
         And the living takes it to heart.
    ³Sorrow is better than laughter,
         For when a face is sad a heart may be happy.
    ⁴The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning,
         While the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure. 

In the movie, the passage is used to illustrate how visiting a graveyard causes one to soberly consider their mortality.  Sometimes this lesson is kind of thrust upon us, as in the case of a death of someone close to you.

I didn't imagine that this verse would have such quick application.  This afternoon, my grandfather passed away.  He was 93.  For me, this was a quick visit to the house of mourning, though perhaps for reasons beyond the lesson being taught in this passage.

I didn't know my grandfather very well.  I spent little time with him as a child (he lived 2 provinces away from me) and even less as an adult.  Extenuating circumstances prevent me from going to his funeral though admittedly much thought was given to figure out how I might be able to.

One thing I do know of him is that he is an eternal soul.  What I don't know is which side of the eternity question he stands.

I often think of eternity.  I don't always appreciate it in light of our own mortality.  I do so for myself but not always for others.  My grandfather's death and the recent death of a cousin (her funeral was last Thursday) really bring me to the house of mourning but not for myself as much as for others.  I know there is little I can do to persuade others to properly consider the eternity question but I think I could do more.  I can start by reading and seeking understanding and wisdom regarding Scripture.  I can add prayer to the mix, earnestly praying for those that come into focus.  I can seek God's help to have a genuine heart for people, a heart patterned after His own rather than the religious heart so many, including myself, have comfortably succumbed to.

Yes, there is little I can do, yet the little I can do can prove quite a lot.  Yes, a visit to the house of mourning is a good trip to make for anyone.  I know .... it seems quite good for me.