There's not much to write home about. God hasn't made it easy for us. I've seen it all and it's nothing but smoke—smoke, and spitting into the wind.
15 Life's a corkscrew that can't be straightened,
A minus that won't add up.
17 I hate life. As far as I can see, what happens on earth is a bad business. It's smoke—and spitting into the wind20-23 That's when I called it quits, gave up on anything that could be hoped for on this earth. What's the point of working your fingers to the bone if you hand over what you worked for to someone who never lifted a finger for it? Smoke, that's what it is. A bad business from start to finish. So what do you get from a life of hard labor? Pain and grief from dawn to dusk. Never a decent night's rest. Nothing but smoke. So I made up my mind that there's nothing better for us men and women than to have a good time in whatever we do—that's our lot. Who knows if there's anything else to life?
9-10 It's better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there's no one to help, tough!
11 Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.
12 By yourself you're unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped.
Anything's possible. It's one fate for everybody—righteous and wicked, good people, bad people, the nice and the nasty, worshipers and non-worshipers, committed and uncommitted. I find this outrageous—the worst thing about living on this earth—that everyone's lumped together in one fate. Is it any wonder that so many people are obsessed with evil? Is it any wonder that people go crazy right and left? Life leads to death. That's it
11 Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.
12 By yourself you're unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped.
Anything's possible. It's one fate for everybody—righteous and wicked, good people, bad people, the nice and the nasty, worshipers and non-worshipers, committed and uncommitted. I find this outrageous—the worst thing about living on this earth—that everyone's lumped together in one fate. Is it any wonder that so many people are obsessed with evil? Is it any wonder that people go crazy right and left? Life leads to death. That's it
Above are some verses pearl stringed together from Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is my favourite book of the Bible, which should immediately tell you a lot about me. CBC professors were forced to choose between Genesis and Revelation at a school event - they can have them, I want Ecclesiastes. More than any other book in the Bible, when I read Ecclesiastes I clearly see the world I live in. Ecclesiastes is often considered one of the two most dangerous books in the Bible, the other being Song of Songs. Why? Because nothing is more threatening to the status-quo than sex and meaninglessness. As human beings, we are wired for meaning, we crave it, create it, seek it, and in the face of meaninglessness we are apt to lose our minds. What happens when the myths, stories, goals, and values of our society our shown to be dust in the wind? Well we might opt out, or try and change, or some other very unhelpful thing which will disturb society's sense of normalcy. We might: be homeless for a summer, or not get a job, or riot, who knows? The sky is the limit! Only our imagination holds us back.
Eugene Peterson wrote in on of his books that Ecclesiastes is the palate cleansing book that prepares one for the gospel - that we need a really strong drink of reality in order to grasp the beauty and the power of the gospel. Ecclesiastes represents a sort of intellectual anti-wisdom. It presents a stumbling block to anyone who might be tempted to take proverbs or other "promises" too concretely. I read a book this week by Robert K. Johnston on Ecclesiastes that allowed modern cinema to speak into the themes of meaning and having started with the films then brought Ecclesiastes into the conversation. Movies like: American Beauty, Signs, About Schmidt, Run Lola Run, Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Crimes and Misdemeanors... Belief in the value of bringing art and culture into conversation with the Bible and theology in a two way, mutually informing dialogue is rare and precisely why I am going to Regent this fall. Some of you will note the scandal of suggesting that a movie like Boogie Nights could be worth watching "despite" its strong and explicit sexual content. However, this amusingly highlights why Song of songs is the other "most dangerous book." Christians often are very concerned with censoring the content of art, music, movies, culture and even thought. Amusingly the Bible with its, violence, sexuality, genocide, incest etc. probably wouldn't make it past our own review board.
What does Ecclesiastes teach us? Life is chaos! Deal with it! Embrace it! Enjoy it when you can because life is also a gift from God - and as a gift it can only be received rather than taken.
Or to put another way: Life is more like surfing than it is like building a house.
Do you believe that the universe has rules that God has put in place that if you follow you will be able to enjoy life and experience abundance? Do you believe that if you are a good person that things will be good and happy? Do you believe that everything happens for a reason? Do you believe that if you are a Christian that God guarantees you stuff? your life? money? food? Get a reality check, read Ecclesiastes and look around the world.
I think Ecclesiastes is the key to Paul's secret to be content in all circumstances (Philippians 4:9). Everything is meaningless but life is still a gift.
Be dangerous! Embrace the chaos! Face the void! Find faith! Find Freedom!
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