Are you living out things that will affect your résumé or your eulogy? How would your life change if you lived each day with your eulogy in mind?
你的生活是否为你的履历或悼词增添色彩呢？想到人们将如何追念你，会改变你的日常生活吗？
Death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.Ecclesiastes 7:2
死是众人的结局，活人也必将这事放在心上。-传道书7章2节
My heart is full from attending the funeral of a faithful woman. Her life wasn’t spectacular. She wasn’t known widely outside her church, neighbors, and friends. But she loved Jesus, her seven children, and her twenty-five grandchildren. She laughed easily, served generously, and could hit a softball a long way.
我参加了一位热心爱主的姐妹的葬礼，心中感触良深。这位姐妹并没有辉煌的一生，除了会友、邻居和朋友，没太多人认识她。但她爱耶稣、爱她的7个孩子和25个孙儿。她总是笑脸迎人、热心服事，并能把垒球打得老远。
Ecclesiastes says, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting” (7:2). “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning” because there we learn what matters most (7:4). New York Times columnist David Brooks says there are two kinds of virtues: those that look good on a résumé and those you want said at your funeral. Sometimes these overlap, though often they seem to compete. When in doubt, always choose the eulogy virtues.
传道书说：“往遭丧的家去，强如往宴乐的家去”（7章2节），“智慧人的心，在遭丧之家”（4节），因为在那里我们可以学到最重要的功课。有位《纽约时报》的专栏作家说，有两种方式可以呈现一个人的特质：一个是自己写在履历上让它看起来亮眼，另一个则是别人在你的葬礼上所说的悼词。有时两者是一致的，但有时可能是相互抵触。若有任何不一致，悼词中所说的特质总是比较可靠的。
The woman in the casket didn’t have a résumé, but her children testified that “she rocked Proverbs 31” and its description of a godly woman. She inspired them to love Jesus and care for others. As Paul said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1), so they challenged us to imitate their mother’s life as she imitated Jesus.
这位爱主的姐妹虽没有显赫的履历，但她的子女都说，她真实地体现出箴言31章所描述敬虔妇女的生命，因她激发他们爱耶稣，让他们学会关心他人。保罗说：“你们该效法我，像我效法基督一样”（哥林多前书11章1节），所以，他们也激励众人效仿他们的母亲，正如她效仿耶稣一样。
What will be said at your funeral? What do you want said? It’s not too late to develop eulogy virtues. Rest in Jesus. His salvation frees us to live for what matters most.
在你的葬礼上，人们会说些什么呢？你希望人们怎么说？现在就开始培养这些优点和特质还不算太迟。让我们倚靠耶稣，祂的救恩能让我们自由地为祂而活。
Father, give me the courage to live for what matters most.
求主赐我勇气，让我能为祢而活。

Ecclesiastes 7:1-6    NIV

7 A good name is better than fine perfume,and the day of death better than the day of birth. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting,for death is the destiny of everyone;the living should take this to heart. 3 Frustration is better than laughter,because a sad face is good for the heart. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. 5 It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools. 6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,so is the laughter of fools.This too is meaningless.

传道书 7:1-6 

7 名誉强如美好的膏油，人死的日子胜过人生的日子。 2 往遭丧的家去强如往宴乐的家去，因为死是众人的结局，活人也必将这事放在心上。 3 忧愁强如喜笑，因为面带愁容终必使心喜乐。 4 智慧人的心在遭丧之家，愚昧人的心在快乐之家。5 听智慧人的责备，强如听愚昧人的歌唱。 6 愚昧人的笑声好像锅下烧荆棘的爆声。这也是虚空。

INSIGHT

灵粮透视

Solomon said some pretty odd, outlandish, and morbid things in Ecclesiastes 7: One’s death is better than one’s birth (v. 1). Attend funerals not parties (v. 2). It’s wise to think a lot about death (v. 4). In many cultures, it’s deemed unacceptable to talk or even think about death when you’re still living. However, since everyone dies, Solomon advises us to live life with our demise in mind (v. 2), pondering over life’s brevity instead of pursuing festivity or levity, “for sadness has a refining influence on us” (v. 3 nlt). In light of the brevity of life and the reality and inevitability of death, we’re exhorted to evaluate how we have been living and how differently we want to spend our hours today. “A wise person thinks a lot about death” (v. 4 nlt) is good advice because it lifts our eyes from the temporal to the eternal.
在传道书第7章，所罗门讲到一些颇为古怪且不寻常，与死亡有关的事，例如：一个人的死亡比出生更好（1节）；参加丧礼胜过参加宴乐（2节）；多思想死亡是智慧之举（4节）。在许多文化中，当人还活着的时候，无论是谈论或思想死亡，经常都是不被认可的。但每个人都会离开这个世界，因此所罗门建议我们在活着的时候便须将死亡谨记于心（2节），常思想人生的短暂，而不要追求宴乐和浮华，“面上虽带着愁容，却使心智更加敏锐”（3节，现中修订版）。鉴于人生短暂且人人必经历死亡，作者叮嘱我们要评估过去的生活方式，思想今天要如何过不同的生活。他还给了我们一个很好的建议：“智慧人常深思死亡”（4节，新普及译本），因为这能让我们的目光从现世转向永恒。
编辑：Sarah
校对：Snow
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