What does that mean?

Today's Verse:

The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22 NLT

This may come as a shock to you all, but I do not know everything. While you have become used to basking in the radiance of my rapier wit and towering intellect here on G.I. Josephus, today will be somewhat of a disappointment.

As I read today's verse I was intrigued by it. The first part of the verse seems pretty self-evident; God's blessings make us rich in a way worldly wealth never will. The second part however is a little bit trickier. Is Solomon telling us that if there is sorrow attached to something that it isn't from God? That doesn't seem right, maybe the message got garbled in the translation (I never liked the NLT anyway).

The Hebrew word translated sorrow here is `etseb עצב:
1) pain, hurt, toil, sorrow, labour, hardship
a) pain
b) hurt, offense
c) toil, hardship
2) vessel, creation, object

While this could possibly convey that the blessings of the Lord come with no labour or toil, that somehow doesn't fit right either. Sure the Lord can bless freely and laboring will not earn you "Lord Loot" (which would be redeemable for cool stuff on a sort of sliding points scale if it existed) but sometimes through laboring you can be blessed. If that isn't it, and blessings from the Lord are sometimes accompanied by sorrow or found in the midst of sorrow, then what is Solomon trying to say?

I read several commentaries on the matter, and still haven't come up with anything conclusive. As near as I can tell, Solomon is saying; the Lord will bless those whom he will bless regardless of circumstance, and those blessings will come irrespective of the toil of those being blessed.

Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter? Post them here and let me know what you think. And look for "Lord Loot" to make an appearance in a future post, its just too good an idea to pass up.

Filthy Heathens

So, the plan was to attend a different church in Eagle River each Sunday, re-visit as necessary until we found one we could call home. Yesterday however, we played hookie instead. With my wife not feeling well (all 4 wisdom teeth got pulled on Thurs.), I decided to take the boys and my mother-in-law on a little outdoor adventure. The trip was a success, we saw a moose and a bald eagle, as well as the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. The boys had fun and we feasted on PB&J sandwiches. I didn't deliver a sermon, but we did sing some VBS type songs in the car on the way back, so I guess we aren't completly pagan yet.

Thus, there is no update on the Church Search, sorry. You can check out last weeks update here.