Happy new year?????? Not so happy in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve. Not so happy for a lot of people who suffer from depression. Gallup poll from Feb, 2024: https://news.gallup.com/poll/505745/depression-rates-reach-new-highs.aspx You can read the stats for yourself, but quoting the article: “The percentage of U.S. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime has reached 29.0%, nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015. The percentage of Americans who currently have or are being treated for depression has also increased, to 17.8%, up about seven points over the same period. Both rates are the highest recorded by Gallup since it began measuring depression using the current form of data collection in 2015. Over one-third of women (36.7%) now report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime, compared with 20.4% of men, and their rate has risen at nearly twice the rate of men since 2017. Those aged 18 to 29 (34.3%) and 30 to 44 (34.9%) have significantly greater depression diagnosis rates in their lifetime than those older than 44.” Rates among women, young adults, blacks, and hispanics are rising the fastest.

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year. We switched to an all snowy white tree this year and loved it. Xmas gift opening brunch with family. The grandkids now “order” exactly what they want for Xmas through their parents to the grandparents and relatives! I feel like Amazon: click and buy! Everyday we have an Amazon grandkid gift coming to our house! Before I die I bet we get Amazon drones flying in gifts via overnight delivery. My favorite character is the Grinch. Some say I have a Grinch personality. I’m proud of that. I enjoy being the Grinch, but I do enjoy Xmas. It’s the one time of the year where you kinda live in a make-believe world of happiness for a few days.

But then the day after Xmas, we spent a few hours taking down the tree, the ornaments, the wreaths, the Santas, the little village sets, etc. Then reality sets in. “Is that all there is”? Like a drunk who drinks to forget his troubles, he wakes up from his drunk and his troubles are still there. Actually, for some the holidays themselves are depressing. Maybe you lost a loved one during the preceding year. Maybe you just miss your parents like I do. Maybe you were in a divorce or custody battle as a parent or a child. Maybe you are in serious financial trouble. Maybe you are worried about losing your job. Maybe you or a loved one just got diagnosed with a serious or terminal disease or sickness (as happened to two of my friends). Maybe bad things happened to you as a child.

1969: Peggy Lee song: “Is that all there is”. She is more known for her 1958 song “Fever” but this song resonated with me. I encourage you to listen to the song on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCRZZC-DH7M I graduated HS in 1967 and my wife in 1969, to that’s our decade. It was a decade of great promise (going to the moon) but also a decade of tragedy (JFK, MLK, Vietnam Conflict). The son actually reminds me of that decade. From AI: “The song was written and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and inspired by a short story by Thomas Mann. Lee’s granddaughter, Holly Foster Wells, said that the song resonated with Lee because it spoke to the woman behind her glamorous image. Lee had experienced many difficult events in her life, including watching her family’s home burn down as a child and having her first husband leave her. She demanded of the writers that only she should sing he song. ” From the lyrics: as a child she stood in her pajamas shivering while watching her house burn in a fire “And when it was all over I said to myself Is that all there is to a fire? Is that all there is Is that all there is? If that’s all there is my friends Then let’s keep dancing Let’s break out the booze and have a ball If that’s all there is.” (Obviously that was not the child saying that at the time, but the song looking back at that bad incident in life.) In the song, when she was 12 her dad carried her to a circus with clowns, dancing bears, elephants, and a high flying act, but something was missing, so she said “is that all there is to the circus”: if that’s all there is let’s keep dancing break out the booze (the chorus). So she fell in love and it was wonderful until one day he walked away and she said “is that all there is to love”: then let’s keep dancing, booze. The last stanzas of the song are amazing:

I know what you must be saying to yourselves
If that’s the way she feels about it
Why doesn’t she just end it all?
Oh, no, not me
I’m not ready for that final disappointment (the song discourages suicide!)

Because I know
Just as well as I’m standing here talking to you
That when that final moment comes
And I’m breathing my last breath (btw Peggy Lee died at 81)
I’ll be saying to myself

Is that all there is
Is that all there is?
If that’s all there is my friend
Then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is.

Many speculate over the meaning of the song, but how did Peggy see the meaning? From Ivan: “For her, the song is not about failure or defeat, but about survival and growth. Granted that life may have many disappointments in store for you, you still have to learn from those disappointments, get past them and move on in contentment, never giving up the search for more.

In Peggy’s own words, from an interview: “It’s about the experiences you go through in life, necessary for growth… The attitude has a lot to do with how we survive. If you can love work enough to take the dues you have to pay, it’s worth it. If not, there must be something else you can do to make you happy.”

I thought this was good from AI: “Peggy Lee’s song “Is That All There Is?” is about questioning the meaning of life and accepting that life is a series of disappointments. The song’s lyrics are told from the perspective of someone who is disillusioned with life’s events and suggests that people should enjoy life’s moments instead of worrying.”

The dancing and booze part sounds a lot like Ecclesiastes. After Solomon failing in his attempts to find meaning in life with booze, money, women, building projects, etc., and after citing all the inconsistencies in life, he says in (The Message) 2:²⁴ The best you can do with your life is have a good time and get by the best you can. The way I see it, that’s it—divine fate. Whether we feast or fast, it’s up to God. ” 5:^18-20 After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live.
If you can trust God and enjoy life in spite of all your troubles and bad times, then even that is a gift from God, so be thankful. 9:⁷ Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, Drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure! Dress festively every morning. Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love Each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange For the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it, For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.” The Message is a paraphrase, so take the words with a grain of salt, but I think it got the meaning about right in simply words and thoughts.

Ecclesiastes ends with 12:¹³ The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. ¹⁴ For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” So Ecclesiastes is not promoting hedonism (wine, materialism, pleasure) since that is all “vanity (futility), a chasing after the wind”. The Hebrew word for vanity is hebel: Vanity, breath, vapor, futility, emptiness. All pursuits for meaning in life (why am I here, what is my purpose for living), whether materialism or pleasure, are like a “vapor”. You can see the steam off boiling water, but it only appears for a little while and it is gone, nothing lasting about it. Materialism and pleasure only last for a few moments (compared to eternity). Life is so full on inconsistencies as Ecclesiastes points out over and over, such as the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, a man lives all his life to accumulate things and leaves them to someone who doesn’t appreciate them, etc. The righteous and the wicked endure the same troubles. Ecclesiastes says you might as well enjoy life in spite of all that, but he adds a caveat (a warning or caution) that God will hold you into account for your actions.

So where are you after Xmas and New Year’s Day? You might be sad or even depressed. You might need to seek help. You might need medication. But maybe “if that is all there is” and Ecclesiastes can help you just live for today. Forget about the past. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Live today as if it was the last day of your life. Even if bad or terrible things happen in the future, why waste today worrying about the “what ifs”? I assure you that if today was your last day, you would not want to spend your last day miserable. You would not be obsessed with finding out the meaning about why things happen to you or why you act the way you do. So, today, enjoy life as it this was your last day. Eat with friends or loved ones. Call people and tell the you love them. Do something that really makes you happy. Yes, examine to see if you are ready to meet your Maker. If you are not ready, do what it takes to get ready. Accept Jesus as your Savior, believe and be baptized to wash away your sins (Acts 22:16). Confess your sins and ask forgiveness if you have drifted away from God. Get you mind ready for eternal life. But then go out and enjoy the day!

I was raised on “Dear Abby”, a very famous newspaper column that ran from 1956 till 2000. She gave great advice on love and family problems. It was free counseling. The Holy Spirit gives us free counseling constantly through God’s word.

I hope you have a great day. Every day.