“Far better in a house that mourns, than one where there’s a feast; so everyone should take to heart that all end up deceased.”  (Ecclesiastes 7:2)

This is the seventh post on Ecclesiastes, which I am translating into common meter.  The following contains my rendering of Ecclesiastes 7, preceded by a brief reflection.

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The spiritual journey of all Christians follows the path of love.  From the time of conversion until God calls us home, there is simply no other way.  For many, the desire to embody the virtues of love – forgiveness, humility, compassion, gratitude, and the like – increases with age, particularly when approaching the biblical marker of three score and ten years.  When we open our minds to the truth of our own mortality, spiritual growth emerges from the shadows to become a central focus in our life.  There is an increasing sense of urgency as we feel the days slipping away and time growing shorter.  We begin to see things in a new light – a divine light – that shines deeply into our soul, revealing all manner of thoughts and actions in need of divine purgation and reformation.

How God works to enable our transformation is forever shrouded in mystery.  There are, of course, well-worn practices that can place us in a position to be re-formed by his Spirit.  These practices, spiritual disciplines, include such things as periods of silence and solitude, fasting, prayer, community, study, worship, and others.  One discipline often associated with the later years is contemplating one’s own death.  Known by its Latin name, momento mori, it is the practice of ‘remembering that you are going to die.’  This is not a morbid exercise per se, but a way to awaken in our spirit a desire to live a different kind of life today.  This is the focus of Ecclesiastes 7:1-4.

Here is the NET version:
¹ A good reputation is better than precious perfume; likewise, the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.
² It is better to go to a funeral than a feast.  For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this to heart.
³ Sorrow is better than laughter, because sober reflection 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 merrymaking.

In the first part of verse 1, the Teacher declares that, “A good reputation is better than precious perfume.”  A “good reputation” emerges more or less naturally from a life of virtue.  Who among us doesn’t value a good reputation that comes from living a virtuous life?  Many try to craft a good name for themself absent a life of integrity – but ultimately fail.  Despite the machinations of the ego, there are no shortcuts to a good name.  For many years Zenith Electronics had the slogan, “The quality goes in before the name goes on.”  Really not a bad way to think about a life of virtue.  And to what can a good reputation be compared?  The Teacher uses the image of “precious perfume,” which was a much sought after commodity in Old Testament times even rivaling silver and gold.  As well, in Jesus’ day, perfumes were highly valued.  Jesus, who lived the most virtuous life ever, was anointed with perfume.  (Matthew 26:6-10)

In the second part of verse 1, the Teacher adds, “likewise, the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.”  Clearly, he is not saying that the day of one’s birth is not valuable or important.  Recall, the parallelism – reputation is to perfume, as death is to birth.  Perfume is highly valued, and so too is the day of one’s birth.  But according to the Teacher, for each of these (perfume and day of birth) there is something of greater value – namely, reputation and the day of one’s death.  But how can the day of one’s death be better than the day of one’s birth?

Verse 1 is a puzzling proverb to which many interpretations have been offered.  I would suggest that it is best understood in context with the following verses 2-4.  Here we find the Teacher asserting that for those who are wise – a funeral is better than a feast (verse 2); sorrow is better than laughter (verse 3); and mourning is better than merrymaking (verse 4).  In each of these verses the emphasis is not just the experience, but on taking these ideas to heart.  In other words, the Teacher affirms the unique spiritual value of reflecting on the end of life because it is a time when the reality of the meaning of life comes into focus.  Ronald Rolheiser writes, “If, indeed, we knew that we were to die tomorrow, we should, on this our last day, quickly come to the realization of how precious are the gifts of life, friendship, love, health, and work.”  (The Restless Heart)

It sounds a bit gloomy, but momento mori is rooted in Scripture, starting with God’s prophetic words to Adam, “For dust you are and to dust you will return.”  (Genesis 3:19).  It is also found in the prayer of the Psalmist, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  (Psalm 90:12)  And in the words of the Apostle James, “You do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”  (James 4:14)  And of course, this is precisely the advice of the Teacher in the second verse, “For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this to heart.”  (Ecclesiastes 7:2)

An advocate of this discipline, Kathleen Dowling Singh writes, “Meditating on death opens us up deeply to the precious gift of this life and the boundless gift we can make of it.  It begs us to look at what remains frivolous in our lives, what remains careless.  Most of us have lived so many decades on the surface of being, whistling around the outskirts of awareness.  We rarely pause to question, to look.  Where have I not forgiven?  Where have I not apologized?  Who have I not loved well?  Who have I not thanked?  Where do I still cling?  What fears do I still harbor?  Such deeply and thoroughly honest contemplation allows us to change what can be changed and die without regret.”  (The Grace in Aging)

I believe that momento mori is an exemplar of the Apostle Paul’s call to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”(Romans 12:2)  Contemplating how quickly our years are passing and facing up to our mortality can create an urgency to address what has so far been left unaddressed.  For a Christian it should not be a depressing thought, but a liberating one.  Alan Jones writes, “Is it only in the presence of death that we can see so clearly what love ought to be like?  The answer of the believer is ‘Yes.’  It is for the sake of learning how to love and for no other reason that the believer is committed to looking death straight in the eye.  Facing death gives our loving force, clarity, and focus.  But how awful to discover what love ought to be like only at the end of one’s life, when it is too late.  …  The contemplation of our death helps us to discover what true love is.”  (Soul Making)

The spiritual power of momento mori can also be inferred from looking at those who have had near-death experiences.  This is an area of interest to researchers such as Dr. Bruce Greyson, a specialist in psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia, and a leading expert.  He has documented profound changes that often transform the attitudes, values, beliefs, and behavior of people who have had such encounters.  He has found that near-death experiences, “typically make people more … compassionate, more caring, more altruistic, and they become much less interested in physical things – in material goods, in power, prestige, fame, competition.”  More compassionate and caring?  Less consumed by stuff and self?  Sounds like the path of love.

S

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1 A name that’s good is better than,
the finest perfume worn;
The day of death is better than,
the day that one is born.

2 Far better in a house that mourns,
than one where there’s a feast;
So everyone should take to heart,
that all end up deceased.

3 Far better than a laughing mouth,
is grieving in the soul;
For sadness showing in a face,
will make the heart feel whole.

4 The heart of one who’s wise is in,
the house of misery;
But not a fool, who’s heart is in,
the house of gaiety.

5 Far better to be scolded by,
a person who is wise;
Than listen to the song of fools,
and what their words advise.

6 Like crackling thorns beneath a pot,
that set it simmering;
So is the laughter of a fool,
which doesn’t mean a thing.

7 Oppression and extorsion drives,
the wisest person mad;
While bribery corrupts the heart,
and makes one’s thinking bad.

8 Far better is a matter’s end,
than when it has its start;
And better patient empathy,
than pride within the heart.

9 Don’t let your spirit be provoked,
or let your temper rule;
For anger lodges deep within,
the spirit of a fool.

10 Don’t ask, “Why were the olden times,
   so better than these days?”
For there’s no wisdom to be found,
contained in such a phrase.

***

11 Now wisdom is as good as wealth,
from any legacy;
It is a benefit to have,
for those with eyes to see.

12 For wisdom is, as money is –
a shelter and defense;
But knowledge can preserve the life,
of those with commonsense.

13 Consider all that God has done:
O who can circumvent,
Or find a way to straighten out,
the things that he has bent?

14 When times are good, be filled with joy,
but when they’re bad, recall –
While God makes both, which one will come,
can’t be foreknown at all.

***

15 In my short life I’ve seen a lot,
that seemingly is wrong:
Of righteous people dying young,
while wicked men live long.

16 So don’t be over righteous and,
do not be overwise;
For discontent and misery,
from either can arise.

17 And don’t be overwicked and,
don’t be a simpleton;
For otherwise you might just die,
before your time is done.

18 Hold tightly to such warnings and,
obey them carefully;
Those honoring and fearing God,
from all extremes will flee.

***

19 Now wisdom makes a person strong,
and far more powerful;
Than any ten officials who,
within a city rule.

20 There’s no one righteous here on earth –
not one who’s always good;
There’s no one who has never sinned,
or does the things they should.

21 Don’t pay attention to the words,
that people sometimes spew;
For if you do, then you may hear,
your servant cursing you.

22 For somewhere buried in your heart,
you know one thing is true;
That you yourself have many times,
cursed other people too.

***

23 I tested everything I could,
and said, “I will be wise;”
But yet, all things were far beyond,
what I could analyze.

24 Whatever is or may have been,
is far too deep to glean –
Can anyone discover it,
or grasp what it may mean?

25 I turned my mind to understand,
the role that wisdom plays;
To know the wickedness of fools,
and madness of their ways.

26 I found a woman worse than death,
whose heart is like a lair;
Those pleasing God will get away,
but sinners she’ll ensnare.

27 The Teacher says, “Behold, and look,
this is what I have found;
While adding one thing to the next,
to learn what is profound.”

28 I’ve looked upon a thousand men,
and women just the same;
But only found a single man,
with virtue I could name.

29 I’ve found that God made people good –
to walk an upright way;
But they’ve instead made evil plans,
and badly gone astray.

“I’ve seen a certain tragedy occur beneath the sun; affecting many peoples’ lives, and weighing thereupon.  God gives some people wealth and goods, but not for their delight; for strangers reap the benefit – a grave and wrongful plight.”  (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2)

This is the sixth post on Ecclesiastes, which I am translating into common meter.  The following contains my rendering of Ecclesiastes 6, preceded by a brief reflection.

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Ecclesiastes is notoriously difficult to understand.  That there is no scholarly consensus on the meaning of the book pretty much says it all.  Ecclesiastes also has an embedded logical fallacy, which is the Teacher’s own words found at the beginning and end of the book, “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher.  ‘Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless.’” (Ecclesiastes 1:2; 12:8).  At various places in the book he specifically names wealth, career, status, pleasure, and even wisdom as meaningless.  If this is so, then what are we to make of the Teacher’s own words?  If everything is meaningless, is what he says not meaningless as well?

Some commentators have tried to explain this by saying that the Teacher is describing the meaninglessness of life without God.  This may be so, but it creates further problems of interpretation because, as I pointed out in my last post on Ecclesiastes 5, the Teacher makes numerous statements that presuppose a life with God.  For example, “I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:14)

That being said, it is not for us Christians to throw up our hands and ignore Ecclesiastes, because as the Apostle Paul wrote, “All scripture is God breathed, and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) Moreover, there are many profound and cherished verses and sections in Ecclesiastes.  For example, “There is a time and place for everything …”  (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8); “A cord of three strands is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12); and, “God has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the human heart.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Still, there is much in Ecclesiastes that is hard to square with the typical moral imperatives found elsewhere in Scripture.  For example, in Ecclesiastes 6:1-6, the Teacher insists that failing to squeeze all the enjoyment we can out of life is terrible.   In the first two verses he says, “I’ve seen a certain tragedy occur beneath the sun; affecting many peoples’ lives, and weighing thereupon.  God gives some people wealth and goods, but not for their delight; for strangers reap the benefit – a grave and wrongful plight.”  (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2)  In his view, if we don’t enjoy our wealth and goods, but others do instead, it is a ‘tragedy,’ and ‘a grave and wrongful plight.’  Many other translations are even more emphatic, referring to is as a ‘grievous evil.’  (NIV)  Wow!

Compare the Teacher’s words to those of Paul, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” (1 Timothy 6:17-18)  I’m pretty sure Paul wouldn’t find the pursuit of enjoyment a moral imperative.  Just the opposite.  In fact he wrote, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”   (Philippians 4:12-13)

The Teacher however does not equivocate.  Instead, he doubles down by essentially making the pursuit of enjoyment an existential matter by saying that if we don’t get enjoyment out of our life, we are no better off than had we never been born.  “A long-lived man may sire scores, but if he finds no joy; his wealth won’t make him better than a stillborn girl or boy. … A man who lives two thousand years, but finds no joy in it; Is like a stillborn child in that they both end in a pit.”  (Ecclesiastes 6:3, 6)

In Ecclesiastes 5, the Teacher insists that we enjoy what we have – that we “eat, drink, and be merry.”  The redeeming point being the Teacher’s emphasis that all we have is a gift from God.  Those who receive it as such are filled with gratitude and led to greater giving to others.  But there is no such subtlety in Ecclesiastes 6 with the uncompromising assertion that enjoyment is the sine qua nom of life itself.  If we don’t find joy, according to the Teacher, we are no better off than a stillborn child.  It is tempting to analyze the Teacher as someone depressed and feeling hopeless, and perhaps even a bit manic.  Still, I am hesitant to commit the genetic fallacy and discount the Teacher’s words on the chance he is suffering from some underlying pathology.  For if God can put his words in Balaam’s donkey, he can put them in the Teacher’s mouth regardless of his mental state.

Nonetheless, in places Ecclesiastes is inscrutable, seemingly running crosswise to the grain of Scripture and not yielding easily to simple explanations and answers.  It harbors more than a bit of mystery and ambiguity.  Perhaps this is why we don’t hear too many sermon series on Ecclesiastes.  In any event, it needs to be approached with more caution than certitude.  And it is in this spirit that I offer two thoughts.

First, Ecclesiastes is a reminder against expecting individual verses to carry the entire counsel of Biblical wisdom on any one matter (a point also made in my last post).  When the Teacher in Ecclesiastes 6:1-6 says that having no joy in life is a “tragedy,” we remember as well the counsel of Paul to, “Consider it pure joy … whenever you face trials of many kinds.” (James 1:2)  The center of the Christian message is forever that of the cross and self-sacrifice.  Yes!  But that doesn’t mean that the Christian life is to be a sullen slog either.  Even Jesus enjoyed eating and drinking with those around him.  Consequently, we can agree with the Teacher that there is something fundamentally wrong with a joyless life, while at the same recognizing that there can be joy that transcends pleasures so we can, “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.”  (Romans 5:3)

Second, Ecclesiastes makes ample use of hyperbole.  Obviously, not all language in the Bible is to be taken literally and that overstatement is often used to make a point.  When the Teacher says that it is a “grievous evil” for others to reap the benefit from our wealth and goods, we do not need to take this literally any more so than we take it literally when Jesus says, “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.”  (Matthew 5:29)  Sin does not originate in the eye, it comes from our heart.  The point Jesus is making is that we need to be aggressive in rooting out sin in our lives.  Similarly, I think it is reasonable to assume that the Teacher’s point is simply that there something profoundly sad about going through life without ever enjoying our blessings.  Not that we live for pleasure.  No!  But still, it is lamentable to live in Narnia if it is always winter but never Christmas.

Ecclesiastes surprises me by challenging the easy complacency of my preconceived ideas of a godly life.  The Teacher catches me off-guard with his lament for those who don’t enjoy their prosperity or get their share of happiness in life.  I am conditioned from elsewhere in Scripture to expect him to speak of transcending the need for earthly wealth and goods.  Instead, he tells us that enjoyment is precisely found in them.  It is comforting to hear that bodily, physical pleasures, and not merely spiritual ones, are an integral part of life with God.  Enjoyment of flesh and blood pleasures are as much a part of the Christian life as ascetical practices.  This is a reminder I need from time to time.

S

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1 I’ve seen a certain tragedy,
occur beneath the sun;
Affecting many peoples’ lives,
and weighing thereupon.

2 God gives some people wealth and goods,
but not for their delight;
For strangers reap the benefit –
a grave and wrongful plight.

3 A long-lived man may sire scores,
but if he finds no joy;
His wealth won’t make him better than,
a stillborn girl or boy.

4 A stillborn’s birth is meaningless –
its coming is in vain;
In darkness too it goes away,
and no one knows its name.

5 Although it had no consciousness,
and never saw the sun;
Yet still it found itself more rest,
and peace than anyone.

6 A man who lives two thousand years,
but finds no joy in it;
Is like a stillborn child in that,
they both end in a pit.

***

7 All laboring is for the mouth,
and for it to provide;
But nonetheless an appetite,
is never satisfied.

8 Although they know much more than fools,
what do the wise attain?
And though he knows the way to act,
what does a poor man gain?

9 It’s better liking what is seen,
than always wanting more;
For unchecked longing is no use –
a vain and pointless chore.

***

10 Whatever is, was foreordained,
and chosen long ago;
It’s useless arguing with God,
to change things here below.

11 The more one argues with their words,
the less that they get done.
So how does this do any good,
or profit anyone?

12 Who knows what’s good in this short life,
that passes like a breath?
Who knows what things will happen here,
that follow someone’s death?

“It’s simply best to eat and drink, and like the work one’s got; for days are few that God’s bestowed – indeed, this is one’s lot.  When God gives wealth and goods and work, and joy that will not dim; they come to ease one’s lot in life – as pleasures straight from Him.”  (Ecclesiastes 5:18-19)

This is the fifth post on Ecclesiastes, which I am translating into common meter.  The following contains my rendering of Ecclesiastes 5, preceded by a brief reflection.

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Money matters.  It matters both in the warp and woof of commerce and trade, as well as our spiritual growth and maturity.  The Bible has much to say about the acquisition and use of money.  From the Old Testament prophets instructing on honesty in transactions and almsgiving; to Jesus teaching about the perils of wealth for the kingdom of God; to Paul cautioning about excessive love of money.  There are more than 2000 verses on money, wealth, and possessions in the Bible, and money is the most talked about topic of Jesus.  For the most part, those who are rich don’t fare too well.  Indeed, Jesus said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:24-25)

The concern about riches in the Bible is not so much about money per se, but about our relationship with money – how we acquire it, think about it, and use it.  The Apostle Paul sums it up well.
     “Godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:6-10)

In Ecclesiastes 5:10-20, the Teacher is generally in agreement with Paul, but with a surprising twist at the end.  The first five of these verses describe some downsides of wealth:  love of money is insatiable (v 10); others will be lining up for a share (v 11); there will be sleepless nights worrying about protecting it (v 12); and it can easily be lost (vv 13-14).  The next three verses are darker but along the same lines, insofar as you can’t take money with you when you die (vv 15-16), and that it won’t prevent suffering in this life (v 17).  I don’t think most of us pay much heed to these concerns because they can feel like remote problems at best.  Still, they line up well with the rest of Scripture.  Not so, the final three verses.

For in Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, the Teacher speaks about indulging in what we have.  “It’s simply best to eat and drink, and like the work one’s got; for days are few that God’s bestowed – indeed, this is one’s lot.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18)  In the NET version, “I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life that God has given them, for this is their reward.”  In other words the Teacher is saying, “eat, drink, and be merry!”

This is not a one-off statement either, but a theme that the Teacher repeats throughout Ecclesiastes.
     “There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work.  I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God.”  (Ecclesiasts 2:24)
     “I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live, and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil, for these things are a gift from God.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)
     “So I recommend the enjoyment of life, for there is nothing better on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life.  So joy will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life that God gives him on earth.”  (Ecclesiastes 8:15)

So how do we make sense of the Teacher’s conclusion in these three verses that we are to ‘live it up,’ so to speak?  Because life is short, do we therefore just make the best of our resources by eating, drinking, and merriment?  Some would agree, saying that this is just a matter of enjoying the fruit of one’s labor – making the most of what one’s got.  Undoubtedly, those of us at a certain stage of life with a level of financial security enjoy such things as good food and physical comforts.  But is it really true as the Teacher says that, “there is nothing better for a person to do” than this?

There are some commentators who look at these verses and say that the Teacher is merely expressing the consequence of life without God.  They would say that if one lives life apart from God, then death is the ultimate end, therefore why not just eat, drink, and be merry?  After all, the Apostle Paul said something very similar in regard to the significance of the resurrection and life after death.
     “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”  (1 Corinthians 15:32b)
But it remains to be explained how this type of self-indulgence advocated by the Teacher is the consequence of life without God, when he is clear that this in fact comes from God.

The Teacher emphasizes that all we have – eating, drinking, working, and even our ability to enjoy these things are gifts from God.  For example, “When God gives wealth and goods and work, and joy that will not dim; they come to ease one’s lot in life – as pleasures straight from Him.”  (Ecclesiastes 5:19)  To believe that all we have is a gift from God goes back to the order of things in creation inasmuch as all things belong to God.  “The Lord owns the earth and all it contains, the world and all who live in it.”  (Psalm 24:1)  That all we have is a gift is a key to everything we do with our resources.  For it is in our perception that all we have – wealth, joy, and life itself – is a gift from God, that prompts us to gratitude.  Ronald Rolheiser makes this point.
     “The first exercise we must do to restore our contemplative faculty to its full powers is to work at receiving everything – life, health, the people around us, love, friendship, food, drink, sexuality, beauty – as gift.  Becoming a more grateful person is the first and the most important step in overcoming the practical atheism that besets our everyday lives.  To the extent that we take life for granted we will never see the Giver behind the gift.  But once we stop taking life for granted we will begin to feel it as a gift from God.”  (The Shattered Lantern, 165)

When we see our life, wealth, and joy as gifts from God, it naturally stirs up feelings of gratitude.  When we begin to understand that all we have comes from God, then feelings of greed, envy, and possessiveness loosen their grip on our hearts, and we start thinking more about how we can use these resources to help others.  I have written previously about the importance of gratitude for a life of faith.  Receiving all we have in our lives – our possessions, our relationships, our life itself – as gifts and blessings from God undergirds a life of faith.  To be increasingly aware of how much we have, and to turn our gaze from our poverty to our abundance, is foundational to the Christian spiritual life.

Regardless of our resources, life is always more than “eat, drink, and be merry.”  As Jesus tells us in the parable of the Rich Fool, true riches are not measured in this way.
      “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.  And Jesus told them this parable: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’  “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.  And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’  But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.  Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’  ‘This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.’”  (Luke 12:15-21)

Not that we shouldn’t enjoy the fruits of our labor, we should.  But we need to remember that what the Teacher tells us about utilizing our resources for ourselves is not the full counsel of God on the matter.  Self-indulgence must never have the final word.  The pleasure of eating, drinking, and merriment is not the end game of our spiritual journey.  The Lord calls us deeper.  If we have wealth, we share it with those in need.  If we have health, we comfort those who are sick.  If we have time on our hands, we help those who are stressed.  The balance many of us need in our lives is not in keeping more for ourselves, but in giving more to others.

S

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1 Proceed with care when in God’s house,
draw near and listen there;
Don’t make the sacrifice of fools,
who don’t know where they err.

2 Don’t make rash promises to God,
before you think it through;
For God’s in heaven, you’re on earth,
so let your words be few.

3 Like dreams become more numerous,
whenever cares don’t cease;
As well, a foolish vow occurs,
whenever words increase.

4 Fulfill a promise made to God,
make haste to do it now;
For he does not delight in fools –
so pay up on your vow.

5 Far better not to make a vow,
or let your oath be heard;
Than fail to fill what you have pledged –
reneging on your word.

6 Don’t let your mouth lead you to sin,
and break your promised plans.
Why risk God’s wrath so he destroys,
the workings of your hands?

7 Though plenty words are spoken out,
and many dreams appear;
Remember these are meaningless –
it’s God that you must fear.

***

8 Don’t be surprised when officers,
oppress the weak and poor;
For higher-ups protect their own,
while justice they ignore.

9 But everyone exploits the land,
and all the good earth yields;
The king himself depends upon,
the harvest of the fields.

***

10 Those loving wealth won’t have enough,
they’re never satisfied;
Its folly to believe that all,
their wants will be supplied.

11 As goods increase, so also those,
who hope to get a share.
Yet how do owners benefit,
except to look and stare?

12 The sleep of laborers is sweet,
despite what they have not;
But not the rich, who cannot rest,
from worrying a lot.

13 There’s evil I have looked upon,
that’s reason for alarm;
For too much wealth that’s stored away,
will bring its owner harm.

14 For wealth will vanish through bad luck,
or lack of commonsense;
And children will have nothing left,
for their inheritance.

15 As all come naked to this life,
with nothing to their name;
They’ll carry nothing from their work –
departing as they came.

16 It’s tragic dying like one’s born –
departing with no gain;
For all one’s work and laboring,
is futile and in vain.

17 For people’s days are full of grief –
in darkness do they eat;
Afflicted, angry, and much vexed,
their sorrow is complete.

18  It’s simply best to eat and drink,
and like the work one’s got;
For days are few that God’s bestowed –
indeed, this is one’s lot.

19 When God gives wealth and goods and work,
and joy that will not dim;
They come to ease one’s lot in life –
as pleasures straight from Him.

20 The rich will seldom brood upon,
the way they’ve spent their years;
Because the Lord has filled their hearts,
with gladness and good cheer.

“I saw injustice meted out on those who are oppressed; but there was not a comforter to aid the poor and stressed.”  (Ecclesiastes 4:1)

This is the fourth post on Ecclesiastes, which I am translating into common meter.  The following contains my rendering of Ecclesiastes 4, preceded by a brief reflection.

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Ecclesiastes 4 opens with the Teacher bemoaning injustice and oppression – evils that sadly are as much with us today as when the book was written 4000 years ago.  But what really pulls at my heart is his lament in the second part of the verse that there is no comforter.  “I saw injustice meted out on those who are oppressed; but there was not a comforter to aid the poor and stressed.”  (Ecclesiastes 4:1)  As hard as injustice and oppression are, they are so much harder without someone to provide comfort.  For when injustice and oppression have the day, people groan.  But when there is no one to offer comfort, people despair.  Even the lesser vicissitudes of life are more difficult if we have to face them alone.  Of all our emotions, loneliness is perhaps the hardest to bear.

For some people, feelings of loneliness are occasional and fleeting; for others they may last for a season; and for still others they are an endless torment.  Loneliness hits each of us differently.  To paraphrase Leo Tolstoy, “each lonely person is lonely in his or her own way.”  When young we may feel it in the drive to find a soulmate, in midlife we might sense it in the burden of carrying life’s duties, and later in life we can experience it as death slowly claims those around us and stalks us in the night.  Loneliness, we find, is both a relational and spiritual struggle.

Relational Loneliness
Relational loneliness is what we experience as a result of isolation, separation, and lack of human relationships.  The social and economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been well documented on a macro basis – decrease in life expectancy, business and school disruptions, and stress on the health care system.  But as we have recovered from the height of the pandemic, some of the changes have become more or less permanent, particularly that of loneliness.  Various surveys reveal that roughly 60% of Americans report feeling lonely on a fairly regular basis.  To be sure, this is not only a consequence of the pandemic, but has been on the rise for the past several decades.  Various reasons are given for the increase, but fewer face-to-face contacts due to the proliferation of cell phones and personal entertainment options are often mentioned.

According to the Teacher, the pain of loneliness can be so intense, that nonexistence is preferable.  “So I declared that anyone who has already died; is happier than those alive and in this world abide.  But better still is anyone who’s never seen their birth; and has not had to look upon the evil done on earth.”  (2-3)  This is tragically played out today among teens and young adults, where suicide is the second leading cause of death.  The underlying reasons for suicide are complicated, but for many if not most of these young people, loneliness is undoubtedly a factor.

The Teacher provides a bit of practical advice to counter relational loneliness such as:  working cooperatively with others (verses 9-12); living a balanced work life (verses 5-6); avoiding envy and rivalry (verse 4); and listening to advice from others (verses 13-16).  In other words, pursue those things that draw us closer to one another and avoid what tears us apart.  These are all fine as far as they go, but even surrounded by friends, it is still possible at times to feel a loneliness in our spirit.

Spiritual Loneliness
Spiritual loneliness, also sometimes referred to as existential loneliness, is what we experience when (our circle of relationships notwithstanding) we have a nagging feeling that we are forever on our own.  When our minds turn to the idea that we are born alone, we live alone, and we will die alone.  It is an emptiness that no other person can help us resolve.  It is often accompanied by feelings of meaninglessness and lack of purpose.

The theme of spiritual loneliness animates the book of Ecclesiastes with the Teacher repeating over and over again that everything is meaningless.  At various points in the book he mentions wisdom, work, pleasure, wealth, and advancement as all being meaningless!  Such are the symptoms of spiritual loneliness.

The remedy for spiritual loneliness is God and only God.  He is the only one who can restore purpose and meaning to our lives.  This is summarized at the end of Ecclesiastes where we read, “Having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion:  Fear God and keep his commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.”  (Ecclesiastes 12:13)  Only God is permanent and never-changing.  All else is impermanent and destined to pass away.  It is only by trusting in him through faith, hope, and love, mediated through our work, that we find purpose and meaning that is imperishable.

There is no spiritual loneliness for those who know God and understand that he is always present.  Moses said as much when he addressed the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”  (Deuteronomy 31:6)  This is repeated by the writer of Hebrews, “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’  So we say with confidence, ‘the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?’”  (Hebrews 13:5-6)  The antidote to the hopelessness and fear of being alone in the universe is the person of Jesus, “Emmanuel, which means God with us.”  (Matthew 1:23)

As a Christian I read the Teacher’s words in Ecclesiastes 4:1 about there not being a “comforter,” and immediately think about the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus left for us.  “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever.”  (John 14:16)  As followers of Christ, the Comforter is our assurance against the hopelessness and despair of spiritual loneliness.

Final Note
Loneliness is not something most of us want to experience.  And we will go to lengths to find relief.  But other than clinical depression, most loneliness is just one more example of our own narcissism.  A manifestation, if you will, of what is known as the ‘egocentric predicament,” which is being immediately aware of only our own feelings.  We can become so wrapped up in the threads of our own misery that we simply cannot or will not see the loneliness of others.  Rather than reaching out to others and being a comforter, we wait for help to come to us.  Ironically, though, it is in reaching out to others in distress that can be the first step in our own healing.

Donald Nicholl tells the story of a critically ill man lying in a hospital bed who is overwhelmed by his own grief and despair.  Suddenly, from a nearby room, he hears the cry of an old miner who is in a hospital for the first time in his life.

‘I’m so bloody lonely I could cry.’ … Hearing the terror in the old man’s voice the desperately ill man … from the pit of his own terror, said to himself: ‘I’ll go out and sit by him if it’s the last thing I do.’  And he did.  And from that moment his own terror began to lift. … In the voice of the old man he heard the voice of God calling him to wholeness and holiness. 

Reaching out to comfort another rather than waiting for someone to comfort us is captured in the words of the Peace prayer of St. Francis – “Lord, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love, for it is in giving that we receive.”  May this be our prayer as we seek to be a comforter to the lonely.

S

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1 I saw injustice meted out,
on those who are oppressed;
But there was not a comforter,
to aid the poor and stressed.

2  So I declared that anyone,
who has already died;
Is happier than those alive,
and in this world abide.

3  But better still is anyone,
who’s never seen their birth;
And has not had to look upon,
the evil done on earth.

***

4  I saw that work with all its skill,
is based on rivalry;
This too is striving after wind,
in all futility.

5  The foolish fold their hands and keep,
them idle all the day;
And so they simply eat themselves,
and slowly waste away.

6  It’s better having one handful,
and resting peacefully;
Then both hands full with too much work,
which is futility.

***

7  Then once again I looked around,
at everything that’s done;
And saw another futile thing,
that’s here beneath the sun.

8  One toiling for wealth alone,
without a family;
Will ask, ‘Why am I doing this?’
O what futility!

9  Two people are much better off,
than when there’s only one;
Because they have a good return,
for what they work upon.

10  If either one of them falls down,
the other lends a hand;
But pity one who falls alone,
with none to help them stand.

11  Two people keep each other warm,
when lying close and tight;
But how can one keep warm alone,
how can they be alright?

12  Though one may soon be overcome,
together two can stand;
For even cords are hard to snap,
when twisted from three strands.

***

13  Much better is a poor wise youth,
than old and foolish king –
A king who’s loath to take advice,
and poor at listening.

14  Perhaps the king was once in jail,
then rose to take the throne;
Or possibly since being born,
just poverty had known.

15  I then considered those who live –
of every tongue and race;
And of the king’s successor who,
will rise to take his place.

16  For though the king rules multitudes,
no future soul will care;
And this is also meaningless,
like chasing wind and air.

“For everything there is a day and season of its own; for each thing under heaven there’s a time for it alone.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

This is the third post on Ecclesiastes, which I am translating into common meter.  The following contains my rendering of Ecclesiastes 3, preceded by a brief reflection.

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I love walking in the early morning.  Out before sunrise as nature begins to stir, I am buoyed by the words of the Psalmist, “Awake my soul, arise with me, awake O harp and strings; together we will wake the dawn as all creation sings.”  (Psalm 57:8)  This time of year when it is not too cold, I am greeted by a cacophony of bird sounds – red-bellied woodpeckers tap, tap, tapping for a mate; robins cheerfully chirping as they search for worms; mallard ducks squawking as they fight for mates; tufted tit-mouses calling to one another; and our resident song sparrow practicing its melodic notes as it emerges from winter hiding and perches atop a mugo pine proximate our pond.  On warmer days, there are the earthy Springtime smells of thawing ground and vegetation.  Looking to the heavens I sometimes see the moon in one of its phases.  But the real thrill for me is watching the sunrise (when conditions are right) as it lights up the fading darkness of the night with golds, reds, and oranges.

It is, of course, the sun that is the conductor of all of this – the one that sets the rhythm for the seasons, the flora, the wildlife, and the skies.  According to King David, “The sun is like a happy groom who comes to greet the day, or like a youth who runs a race with joy the course to stay.  It rises with the morning dawn then sprints across the sky; there’s nothing that escapes its heat when shining from on high.” (Psalm 19:5-6)  All life as we know it is dependent on the motion of the earth and its relationship to the sun.  In the natural world there is truly an appointed time and season for everything.  When we follow these times and rhythms, life goes on as our Creator intended.

For much of my life out-of-doors, I have largely been oblivious to the natural world.  Even though I have run or walked outside nearly every day for the past fifty years, for the most part I have ignored the sights and sounds of nature.  Sure, I’ve watched the weather to know what to wear, but primarily I have been intent on exercising and making plans for the day ahead.  Happily, over the past several years, this has begun to change as I have increasingly embraced the natural rhythms.  My walks have become not only exercise, but an occasion to savor the sights and sounds of the natural world and be thankful at the marvel of God’s creation.  But, if my years of disregarding the rhythms of nature is unfortunate, how much worse to disregard the rhythms of human affairs?

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 declares that there are indeed rhythms in human activities, which if observed help us to live as God intended.  Has any Bible translation improved on the King James version of these verses?

¹ To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
² A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
³ A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷ A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.

God sets the season, but it is for us to be aware of his timing and to act appropriately.  The opening verse, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven,” refers to events and situations in life.  Fourteen pairs of these events are presented in verses 2-8.

The Teacher is a bit cryptic in how we are to respond to the rhythms of human activities.  But in the next five verses, 9-13, he essentially distills the choices open to us down to two:  1) Endure the events and situations in life as a burden; or 2) Embrace them as a gift.

The first choice is to see the events and situations in life as burdensome, as an endless ‘to do” list.  We labor, we sweat, we strain and then we die.  (see verses 19-21)  It is a very grim option the Teacher paints, “What is it that a worker gets – what benefit and gain; for all the daily laboring, and all the sweat and strain?  I’ve seen the burdens and the tasks, that God has given to the people living in the world, as something they must do.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:9-10)  Just give into despair and resentment and muddle our way through life.  The problem with this choice is that God wants so much more for us.  He tells us that the events and situations in life are beautiful, even though we may never get a full appreciation or understanding of such events.  “God’s made all things so beautiful, yet does not let us see – the scope of all that he has done, throughout eternity.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:11)  The phrase, “He has made every thing beautiful in his time,” (KJV) is one of the moving in Scripture, and can fundamentally reorient our hearts and minds to how we respond to life.

This leads to the second choice, which is to celebrate the events and situations in life as gifts from God.  “I know there’s nothing better than for people to pursue:  Enjoyment in the life they lead, in everything they do.  For everyone should like their work, and what they drink and eat; for these are gifts that come from God – the pleasures he bequeaths.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)  According to the Teacher, we are to find pleasure in not just the food and drink we consume, but our work as well.  In this context, it seems reasonable to interpret the meaning of ‘work’ broadly.  Not just our 9 to 5 jobs, but anything that requires effort on our part.  For example, any of the events and situations named in verses 2-8.  In contrast, ‘food and drink’ feels like a metonymy of all that is inherently pleasurable.  In other words, we are to see all events and situations in life – whether inherently pleasurable (food and drink) or their opposites (work) as gifts to be grateful for.

Whenever we encounter the events and situations mentioned in verses 2-8, they are gifts from God and are to be received as such, with hearts of gratitude and not resentment.  Henry Nouwen describes how these choices are mutually exclusive.  “Gratitude is the opposite of resentment.  Resentment and gratitude cannot coexist, since resentment blocks the perception and experience of life as a gift.  …  Gratitude goes beyond the ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. … The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.  Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice.  I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment.” (‘The Return of the Prodigal Son,’ 85)

Even death itself (‘a time to die’) can be an opportunity to express gratitude for the gift that was life.  When Christian writer and philosopher Dallas Willard died in 2013, his last action was to close his eyes, lift his head, and say ‘thank you’ to God.  And when we the living experience the death of someone we have loved, we too have the opportunity to thank God for their life.  Even as we grieve (‘a time to mourn), we can gather with others and “mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15)  For as Jesus tells us, mourning carries with it a special blessing.  “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)

I write these words just two days after my mother-in-law passed away, and several days before her funeral.  Olga lived a long and beautiful life.  Born in 1915, she died just a month shy of her 108^th birthday.  She lived the last ten years or so in an assisted living facility where she was served faithfully by countless aides and helpers.  She was always grateful for whatever service or kindness they performed.  Although she was legally blind and hard of hearing, she never complained even as her world grew smaller and smaller.  She delighted in the simple things – meals, music in the evening, and especially calls and visits from her family.  Olga truly saw her life as a gift from God.  And as we gather to mourn her life, we will choose thankfulness over despair as we know she is with her Lord Jesus.

S

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1  For everything there is a day,
and season of its own;
For each thing under heaven there’s,
a time for it alone.

2  There is a time that one is born,
and time as well to die;
There is a time that one should plant,
and time to use the scythe.

3  There is a time that one must kill,
and time to heal each sore;
There is a time for tearing down,
and time to build once more.

4  There is a time that one must weep,
and time to laugh and smile;
There is a time that one must mourn,
and time to dance a while.

5  There is a time to scatter stones,
and time to pick a lot;
There is a time that one should hug,
and time that one should not.

6  There is a time that one must search,
and time to count as lost;
A time for holding onto things,
and time that they are tossed.

7  There is a time to tear apart,
and time to mend and bind;
There is a time to hold one’s tongue,
and time to speak one’s mind.

8  There is a time to act in love,
and time to hate as well;
There is a time for making war,
and time in peace to dwell.

***

9  What is it that a worker gets –
what benefit and gain;
For all the daily laboring,
and all the sweat and strain?

10  I’ve seen the burdens and the tasks,
that God has given to –
The people living in the world,
as something they must do.

11  God’s made all things so beautiful,
yet does not let us see –
The scope of all that he has done,
throughout eternity.

12  I know there’s nothing better than,
for people to pursue:
Enjoyment in the life they lead,
in everything they do.

13  For everyone should like their work,
and what they drink and eat;
For these are gifts that come from God –
the pleasures he bequeaths.

***

14  What God has done will always last,
indeed this is his aim –
He makes it that it can’t be changed,
so all will fear his name.

15  What is and what will come to pass,
was done in days of yore;
For God will seek to do again,
what has occurred before.

***

16  There’s one thing else I saw on earth:
In place of what is fair –
There’s wickedness and tyranny,
and evil everywhere.

17  I thought that, “God himself will try,
   the righteous and the vile;
For there will be a time to judge,
   and bring each deed to trial.”

18  I thought that, “God is testing souls –
   the greatest to the least;
So people see that they themselves,
   are nothing more than beasts.”

19  The fate of men and animals,
is always just the same;
They live and breathe and die alike,
for everything’s in vain.

20  For animals and humans too,
arose up from the dust;
And in the end it’s dust they’ll be,
returning as they must.

21  Who knows if human spirits rise,
and upwardly are bound;
While spirits of the animals,
go down into the ground?

22  I saw it’s best that one enjoys,
Whatever work they do;
That’s all they have, since none can know,
what comes when life is through.

“I said unto my heart, ‘Come see if pleasure offers gain.’  But all enjoyment that I tried turned out to be in vain.”  (Ecclesiastes 2:1)

This is the second post on Ecclesiastes, which I am translating into common meter.  The following contains my rendering of Ecclesiastes 2, preceded by a brief reflection.

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Pat and I built a stone house in rural Maine in the late 1970’s.  This was not ornamental rock veneer, but structural uncut fieldstone walls nearly a foot thick resting on massive concrete/stone foundation walls.  Roughly 100 tons of stone went into the construction, each stone painstakingly harvested from rocky fields and overgrown walls in the vicinity.  We spent one year gathering stones together.  It was hard physical labor, but easy compared to the subsequent two years of construction – hand-mixing concrete, placing stones between slipforms, and backfilling with concrete one shovelful at a time.  As time passed, the beauty of the house started to be revealed.  The work was backbreaking, but we persevered for the pleasure of a house to call our own.

To have a roof over one’s head is one of life’s pleasures.  It’s right up there with the pleasures of loving relationships, good health, and peace.  To even suggest that the pursuit of such pleasures are in vain or futile, is disconnected from reality.  It is also disconnected from Scripture which speaks repeatedly about loving others, healing, peace, and joy – all of which are associated with various feelings of pleasure.  Life is not meant to be an acetic dark hole, always scraping and digging, never resting or coming up for a breath of air.  True, life is hard at times, but there are also divine consolations of beauty and love and joy and, yes, pleasure.

Consider then Ecclesiastes 2, where the Teacher, presumably Solomon, says that pleasure is futile.  “I said unto my heart, ‘Come see if pleasure offers gain.’  But all enjoyment that I tried turned out to be in vain.” (Ecclesiastes 2:1)  In this, he is simply fleshing out the premise he introduced in Ecclesiastes 1, namely, that everything is futile and in vain.  In Ecclesiastes 1, much of the Teacher’s focus was on the futility of work.  In Ecclesiastes 2, he turns to what he perceives to be the futility of pleasure, wisdom, and wealth.  This reflection is on the first of these, namely, pleasure, which I am framing this around three questions that emerge from these verses.

1) Is All Pleasure Is Futile?  This seems to be the message in verse 1 and fleshed out in verses 2-11.  But most English translations are misleading because the Teacher is not referring to pleasure in the sense that most of us understand the term, namely, “a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment.”  The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘pleasure’ is tobe, which means “that which is pleasing to the senses.”  So when the Teacher says that pleasure is futile, he is referring specifically to sensual pleasures, such as drinking of wine, recreation, sex, and music that are further described in verses 2-11.

And so we can say unequivocally that the Teacher is not referring to all types of pleasure.  There has been the occasional person throughout history who has advocated extreme asceticism as the way to God.  But this is not consistent with the Biblical record, which speaks throughout about blessings and joy for all people.  It was certainly not the way of Jesus who described his ministry, “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”  (Matthew 11:5)  God would have us find pleasure as well as meaning and purpose in him, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  (Psalm 37:3-4)

2) Is Sensual Pleasure Futile?  This seems to fit with the definition of the Hebrew tobe, as noted above.  But we need to proceed with caution, and carefully consider the Teacher’s examples of wine (verse 3), gardens and parks (verse 5), and sex and music (verse 8).  The reason being that none of these are inherently bad.  Moreover, all are well documented if not sanctioned within the Biblical record.  Lets consider these in turn.

Wine.  The Apostle Paul at one point advised James to take some wine. (1 Timothy 5:23)  Jesus himself went to a party in Cana where he turned water into wine. (John 2:1-11)  And least you think Jesus did not drink, consider that he consumed wine during the Passover celebration. (Luke 22:17-18)  Furthermore, this must have been a regular practice because he mentions that the Pharisees saw him drinking wine and accused him of being a drunkard.  (Luke 7:34)

Gardens and parks.  Let’s not forget that God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, in which he “made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food.” (Genesis 2:9).  And the last place Jesus walked freely before his arrest and crucifixion was the Garden of Gethsemane.  Gardens and parks provide a special relief and oasis for countless millions living in cities.  Few things can be as pleasurable and soul-satisfying as a walk in a park.

Sex.  Do I need to mention sex as one of the foremost God-given graces to our life on earth?  Indeed, God commanded humans to “be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1:28)  I am pretty sure there is only one way to do this.  Sex can become perverted and distorted, but to suggest that it is futile is crazy.  No sex means the end of life.

Music.  Consider the following from the Psalter.
O shout for joy to God, our strength, the One who makes us strong;
With voices raised to Jacob’s God, let’s sing a happy song.
Strike up a tune and start to play the tambourine and flute;
And let the sweetest music rise from strings of harp and lute.
Blow trumpets when the moon is new and as the time draws near;
O sound the ram’s horn on the day the full moon feast is here.
For Israel this is a rule, a statute and decree,
An ordinance from Jacob’s God, His word for all to see.  (Psalm 81:1-4)

The joy of music in not just the Psalms.  Can anyone listen to the great masterpieces of music and not be pleasurably moved?  I recall a memorable Sunday afternoon when Pat and I attended a performance of JS Bach’s St. Matthew Passion performed on period instruments.  It was indeed an existential moment of pleasure – one in which we lost all sense of time itself.

And so, we must go deeper still into these verses to extract their meaning.

3) Is Self-Indulgent Sensual Pleasure Futile?  Here I think we are getting closer to the meaning of Ecclesiastes 1-11.  Because in these verses we see the Teacher pursuing sensual pleasures with unrestrained self-indulgence.  It is not clear to me that the Teacher himself realizes the implications of what he is saying because of the way he frames his monologue in terms of the futility of tobe, sensual pleasure.  But when we examine what he is saying, we see that his examples are all about self-gratification.  That is, about giving in to his unchecked lust and pride.  Consider just two of his examples.

Gardens and parks.  Notice the language in verses 4-6: “I increased my possessions: I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself.  I designed royal gardens and parks for myself, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.  I constructed pools of water for myself, to irrigate my grove of flourishing trees.” (NET)  I get dizzy just counting the number of possessive pronouns.  It is unclear who, if anyone, other than the king could enjoy these, but the emphasis that he built them for himself, suggests that these were not public works projects.  It sort of reminds me the medieval English Forest Law, where woodlands were claimed as the exclusive hunting grounds of kings.  Woe be it for anyone caught poaching.

Sex.  In the Teacher’s words, he had “a harem of beautiful concubines.” (verse 8)  This is almost not surprising given his boast in the preceding verse 7, “I purchased male and female slaves, and I owned slaves who were born in my house.”  Is there anything more to say about the egocentricity of the Teacher’s life?  Perhaps only that throughout the chapter he boasts of his unsurpassed possessions and wealth.

Suffice it to say, when the Teacher speaks of the futility of sensual pleasure, it is only in the context of extreme self-indulging lust and pride.  Things that we could never in our wildest imaginations conceive of.  Therefore, I find nothing in these verses to suggest that the ordinary and sometimes extraordinary pleasures of life are in anyway futile.

It is helpful to remember when reading Ecclesiastes that there are two people being heard:  1) the Author, whose words appear at the beginning in verse 1:1, and the conclusion in verses 12:9-14; and 2) the Teacher, whose words appear in the intervening verses 1:2 to 12:8, which comprise the bulk of the Book.  The Author is the one who gets the final word in Ecclesiastes. And this is his conclusion of the matter: “Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the duty of all mankind.”  (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

The kingdom of God is not opposed to pleasure, nor is it opposed to sensual pleasures.  It is, however, forever opposed to self-gratifying sensual pleasures.  And in this, the Teacher’s assertion of futility is well founded.  For the root of self-gratifying sensual pleasures is lust and pride, which do not last according to the Apostle John: “For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”  (1 John 2:16-17)

S

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1  I said unto my heart, “Come see,
if pleasure offers gain.”
But all enjoyment that I tried,
   turned out to be in vain.

2  “To laugh,” I said, “is foolishness –
undoubtably it’s mad;
For what is gained from merriment,
what good from it is had?”

3  While seeking wisdom I drank wine,
   to fill myself with mirth;
And see if it was good for those,
   whose days are few on earth.

4  I undertook to build great things,
   like houses for my own;
I planted vineyards for myself,
   where grapes for wine are grown.

5  I made some gardens for myself,
   and parks of good repute;
And in them planted many trees,
   with varied kinds of fruit.

6  I built up reservoirs and pools,
   to irrigate with ease –
My grove of young and flourishing,
   and quickly growing trees.

7  I had both male and female slaves,
   and others born to them;
I owned more droves than anyone,
   within Jerusalem.

8  I gathered silver for myself,
   and gold to fit a king;
I kept a harem to delight,
   and many who could sing.

9  I was within Jerusalem,
   the greatest to that day;
As well, my wisdom never failed,
   or ever went away.

10  There was no yearning of my eyes,
   or pleasure I ignored;
As I was pleased with all my work,
   such things were my reward.

11  Yet when I surveyed all I’d done,
   and what I’d worked to gain;
I saw that it was meaningless,
   like chasing wind in vain.

***

12  I turned to wisdom in my thoughts,
   to foolishness and more.
What else can a successor do,
   than what was done before?

13  I saw that wisdom’s better than,
   what folly has to say;
As much as light is better than,
   the darkest hideaway.

14  The wise have eyes to guide their walk,
   while fools walk without sight;
But yet I came to understand,
   they face a common plight.

15 I thought, “My fate is like the fool’s,
there’s nothing that I gain.”
So I lamented in my heart,
   “My wisdom is in vain.”

16 For like the fool, the wise will find,
   their days will hurry by;
And soon forgotten, like the fool,
   the wise as well must die.

17  And so I hated life because,
   of all that burdened me;
It seemed like chasing after wind,
   in all futility.

***

18 I hated all I toiled for,
   beneath the blazing sun;
For I must leave it to the one,
   who comes when I am done.

19  Who knows if he’ll be wise or dumb,
   yet he will reap the gain –
The fruit of all my work and skill.
   This too is just in vain.

20 And so my heart began to fret,
   for all that I had done;
Despairing over all my work,
   beneath the blazing sun.

21  That one should work with mind and skill,
   then leave what they possess;
To one who has not done a thing,
   is wrong and nothing less.

22  For what do people hope to get,
   what do they hope to gain;
Beneath a bright and burning sun,
   from toiling and strain?

23  For all their days are full of grief,
   of misery and pain;
At night their hearts and minds don’t rest.
   This shows that all’s in vain.

24  It’s better just to drink and eat,
   and in one’s work be glad;
For I have seen that all of this,
   from God’s own hand is had.

25  For without God can anyone,
   have drink or food to eat?
Apart from him can anyone,
   make their own joy complete?

26  To saints, God gives good sense and joy,
   to sinners, grief and pain;
For sinners leave their wealth to saints,
   which also is in vain.

“In vain! In vain! It’s all in vain!” the Teacher’s words declare; “All things are futile and in vain, like vapor in the air.”
(Ecclesiastes 1:2)

This is the first post on Ecclesiastes, which I am translating into common meter.  The following contains my rendering of Ecclesiastes 1, preceded by a brief reflection.

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In the days leading up to the Second World War in 1939, Nazi Germany and Russia signed a non-aggression pact.  Shortly thereafter Hitler invaded Poland and the war was on.  France and Great Britain quickly entered in support of Poland.  And notwithstanding the non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany, there was some question as to what Stalin’s Russia would ultimately do.  It was against this uncertainty that a few weeks later Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, gave a radio address in which he addressed this uncertainty with his now famous description of Russia as, “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”  It was an apt description of a country and a leader that were notoriously difficult to figure out.  Of course, Russia eventually joined with the allies when Hitler recklessly invaded it in 1941.  Still, Stalin was a brutal dictator who, after the shooting war was over, helped set the stage for the cold war with the West.

Churchill’s characterization of Russia as a “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma” is in many ways an apt description of the book of Ecclesiastes.  For it is a confusing and sometimes controversial book.  It starts with uncertainty about whose words we are reading.  We do know that there are two people heard in Ecclesiastes:  1) the Author, whose words appear at the beginning in verse 1:1, and the conclusion in verses 12:9-14; and 2) the Teacher, whose words appear in the intervening verses 1:2 to 12:8, which comprise the bulk of the Book.  There is no indication as to the identity of the Author, but there is strong evidence that the Teacher is Solomon, although even this is far from certain.

Authorship aside, Ecclesiastes starts with the Teacher striking the strange and enigmatic theme: “In vain! In vain! It’s all in vain!” the Teacher’s words declare; “All things are futile and in vain, like vapor in the air.”  (Ecclesiastes 1:2)  In the King James Version, the verse is translated, “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”  Most translations follow the lead of the KJV and use the phrase “Vanity of vanities.”  I don’t like this interpretation because the term vanity has two meanings, and the one that is most familiar to us, ‘excessive pride in oneself,’ is not what this verse is about.  Rather, it is the other definition of vanity, namely ‘futility,’ which is closer to the actual meaning of the verse.  But even this needs some explanation.

The Hebrew word that is translated as vanity is ‘hebel’, which literally means wind or vapor or breath.  This term hebel appears roughly 40 times in Ecclesiastes – sometimes literally and other times figuratively.  To add to the complexity, it has at least three different figurative/metaphorical meanings depending upon the context:  1) unsubstantial, pointless, in vain, or futile; 2) transitory or fleeting; and 3) hidden, difficult to understand, or a puzzle/enigmatic.  The context for its use in Ecclesiastes 1:2 is the first – unsubstantial, pointless, in vain, or futile.

But the real rub comes with the first thing the Teacher names as futile, namely, work.  “What does a person gain from working everyday?” the Teacher asks rhetorically.  (Ecclesiastes 1:3)  He answers this by pointing out that:  Generations come and go and others take their place, and what is here today will soon be forgotten (Ecclesiastes 1:4,11); Things just keep repeating themselves over and over again, but we are never satisfied (Ecclesiastes 1:5-9); there’s nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:10); and everything we accomplish is futile, like “chasing after the wind.”  (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

But is work truly futile?  Is it pointless and in vain?  Is this what the Teacher has in mind?  If so, then it is a very sobering thought indeed.  Yet it seems to me there are at least two ways of understanding the import of the Teacher’s words: a) the inherent value of work; or b) our attitude towards work.  Some commentators suggest that the Teacher is talking about the inherent value of work itself, and is simply taking an honest and unvarnished look at the reality of work, and that any intrinsic value it may have is fleeting at best.  No wonder that Ecclesiastes can seem so depressing.  But while this may be a very natural reading of Ecclesiastes 1, I don’t believe the Teacher’s words are primarily about the inherent value of work itself.  Here are three reasons.

1) Our survival depends upon work.  Unless we are rich or provided for by someone else, then we will perish if we don’t work.  It is part of the divine order of things – God worked six days in creation, and he also assigned work to the Adam.  Work is as much a part of life as is breathing, resting, and eating.  The Teacher compares work to the repetitiveness of the sun rising and setting, the winds blowing, and rivers endlessly flowing. (Ecclesiastes 1:5-7)  But these too are critical for life.  God created us as a people who need food, clothing, and shelter.  He could have created us differently, but he did not.  Work is essential to life.

2) There is no alternative to work.  If work is futile, what is the solution?  Normally, when something is said to be futile it is for the purpose of ending it.  Perhaps you are having a dispute with an unreasonable and hard-hearted individual and a friend advises you that your arguments are futile?  If you listen to your friend, you stop.  Is this what the Teacher is advising us to do – to stop working?  If so, we might as well stop breathing, and sleeping, and eating.

3) Almost no work is truly futile.  Truly futile work brings to mind the ancient Greek myth of Sisyphus, whom you may recall was sentenced by Zeus to the endless task of pushing a massive boulder up a hill, only to have it slip from his grasp when near the summit forcing him to go down the hill and try again.  An endless cycle of effort and failure for all eternity.  The perfect image of futility – never ending and never accomplishing anything.  But in the real world, there is simply too much work that is meaningful and anything but futile.  Consider just a few:  a doctor caring for suffering patients; a lawyer fighting for basic human rights; an immigrant advocate assisting those fleeing persecution; a missionary sharing the good news with the lost; or a stay-at-home parent lovingly raising children.  Futile work?  I think not.  And if this is the Teacher’s point then he and I are living in different realities.

So, if the Teacher is not speaking about the inherent value of work, then he must be speaking about our attitude towards our work.  And here I believe we are on solid ground.  For the bigger picture of Ecclesiastes is how to find meaning and purpose in life.  When read in this light, Ecclesiastes 1:2-11, has wisdom for us – namely, that work is a good servant but a bad master.

1)  Work is a Good Servant.  The issue here is one of gratitude for the work we have.  Work takes effort, but we get so much back.  For rightly understood, work is a gift – not only that we have work, but that we have the requisite strength and ability, and that through our work are able to support our lives and the lives of others.  Indeed, work is a primary way we live, love, and serve other people.  If we really bought into the despair that some might read into the words of the Teacher, we could spend our working years angry and frustrated.  But looking honestly at what we receive from our work can enable us to be grateful and enjoy the work that we have.

The Teacher validates this when he speaks to finding enjoyment in our work in Chapter 5.  “I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people:  to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life that God has given them, for this is their reward.  To every man whom God has given wealth and possessions, he has also given him the ability to eat from them, to receive his reward, and to find enjoyment in his toil; these things are the gift of God.  For he does not think much about the fleeting days of his life because God keeps him preoccupied with the joy he derives from his activity.”  (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20)

If we are not careful, we can miss the richness of what a life of work offers.  Ronald Rolheiser put it this way, “Many … deeply regret that during the healthiest and most productive years of their lives they were too driven and too unaware of the richness of their own lives to appreciate and enjoy what they were doing.  Instead of privilege, they felt burden; instead of gratitude, they felt resentment; and instead of joy, they felt anger.  One of the demons we wrestle with during our adult years is … a joylessness bordering on anger for, ironically, being burdened with the privilege of health, work, and status.”  (Sacred Fire).

Work can be monotonous at times, but yet it can be wonderfully rich.  In the Teacher’s words,
“The sun arises every day and sets upon its wane; Then hurries back to where it starts to once more rise again.”  (Ecclesiastes 1:5)
“The wind blows strongly to the south, then turns round to the north; Around and round the wind goes out, before returning forth.”  (Ecclesiastes 1:6)
“All rivers flow into the sea, and yet it never fills; Returning to the river’s source, the water once more spills.” (Ecclesiastes 1:7)
Ironically, the metaphors the Teacher uses for the monotony of work richly show its value.  If the sun did not reliably rise every day, or if the winds did not distribute the equatorial heat, or if there was no rain to replenish the rivers, then there would be no life.  The same is true of work.

2) Work is a Bad Master.  The issue here is one of keeping a proper perspective on our work life.  The danger being that work can become an idol.  Tim Keller defines an idol as “anything that is more important to you than God. … anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.”  He names our work as one such idol, “the human heart [can] take good things like a successful career … and turn them into ultimate things.  Our hearts deify them as the center of our lives because we think they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment, if we attain them.” Furthermore, “More than other idols, personal success and achievement lead to a sense that we ourselves are god, that our security and value rest in our own wisdom, strength, and performance.” (Counterfeit Gods)

The Teacher clearly puts a damper on those who would turn their work and career into an idol.  For one thing, he tells us to keep in mind that in the long haul everything we do will be forgotten.  “For generations pass away and others take their place.”  (Ecclesiastes 1:4); and “There’s no one who recalls to mind the things of long ago; nor will someone in future times recall what we now know.” (Ecclesiastes 1:11).  Moreover, whatever we accomplish is really not that new at all.  “The thing that once before has been is what again will be; Beneath the sun there’s nothing new, that anyone will see.”  (Ecclesiastes 1:9); “Is there a thing that one can say, ‘Look!  This is new, for sure?’  For long ago in ages past such thing was done before.” (Ecclesiastes 1:10).  As John Mark Comer wrote, “No matter how smart or hard working or gifted or charismatic we are, there will always be somebody better than us.”  (Garden City, 173)  Futility does not come in our work per se, but in finding our self-worth in our work.

The End of the Matter

[Spoiler Alert]  For those who haven’t read to the end of Ecclesiastes, you might want to stop here.  Because in Ecclesiastes 12:9-14, we hear the voice of the Author who summarizes all that the Teacher has said.  “Having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion:  Fear God and keep his commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.  For God will evaluate every deed, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”  (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

The end of the matter is that God is the only one and only thing that is permanent and never-changing.  All else is impermanent and destined to pass away.  It is only by trusting in him through faith, hope and love, mediated through our work, that we find purpose and meaning that is imperishable.

S

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1  What follows are the Teacher’s words –
the sayings that he spun;
While king within Jerusalem,
and David’s heir and son.

***

2  “In vain! In vain! It’s all in vain!”
the Teacher’s words declare;
“All things are futile and in vain,
   like vapor in the air.”

3  What can a person hope to gain,
from working every day;
Beneath a hot and blazing sun,
while toiling away?

4  For generations pass away,
and others take their place;
The earth however changes not –
forever fixed in space.

5  The sun arises every day,
and sets upon its wane;
Then hurries back to where it starts,
to once more rise again.

6  The wind blows strongly to the south,
then turns round to the north;
Around and round the wind goes out,
before returning forth.

7  All rivers flow into the sea,
and yet it never fills;
Returning to the river’s source,
the water once more spills.

8  Now everything is wearisome,
no matter what is tried;
No ear can ever hear enough,
no eye is satisfied.

9  The thing that once before has been,
is what again will be;
Beneath the sun there’s nothing new,
that anyone will see.

10  Is there a thing that one can say,
“Look!  This is new, for sure?”
For long ago in ages past,
such thing was done before.

11  There’s no one who recalls to mind,
the things of long ago;
Nor will someone in future times,
recall what we now know.

***

12  O onetime I, the Teacher, ruled,
within Jerusalem;
When king of those in Israel,
and sovereign over them.

13  I set my mind to study all,
and everything that’s done.
O what a burden man must bear,
which God has laid upon.

14  I’ve looked at all that has been done,
beneath the sun so fair;
And each of them is meaningless,
like chasing swirling air.

15  What’s crooked can’t be straightened out,
or undergo repair;
Nor can whatever’s disappeared,
be counted like it’s there.

16  I thought, “I’ve learned much more than kings,
Jerusalem has known;
I’ve gained much wisdom in my time,
and knowledge on my own.

17  And so I looked how wisdom’s path,
compares to foolish ways;
But this as well I found to be,
like chasing wind and haze.

18  For with great wisdom there comes much,
frustration, grief, and pain;
Whenever knowledge is increased,
then woes and sorrows rain.