Today’s reading: Ecclesiastes 9-12.

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.

It’s possible to be so focused on eternity that one fails to enjoy the present. “He’s so heavenly minded that he’s no earthly good” goes the old complaint. But wait, isn’t it just as big a mistake to ignore death and live as though there is no God and no judgment? Of course it is, and God tells us through Solomon that death should inform our living, making each day more precious and worth savoring.

For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun. Go…