A Devotional (Of Sorts) from Ecclesiastes
Everything may be meaningless, but the present moment exists.
I read Ecclesiastes earlier this week with the intention of sharing a traditional devotional. Folks who have studied its text will realize that the Teacher, the book’s author, brings a very specific tone and message to its delivery.
Everything is meaningless.
Within five lines, you reach that message, and it appears several more times across 12 chapters.
It reinforces the idea that you, all the people, and all the physical objects around you are finite. It all comes to an end.
As human beings, we certainly recognize the existence of our mortality, but stark reminders of it can be jolting.
As the text continues, the author conveys an important principle in the midst of this despair: God set eternity in the human heart.
It may be odd to juxtapose this sentence with the constant proclamation that everything is meaningless. I kept this apparent contradiction in mind as I continued reading.
A theme of pessimism unfolds, and then notes of hope pick up. The Teacher instructs us that God keeps human beings occupied with gladness of heart, and the Teacher commends the enjoyment of life, acknowledging that joy will accompany human beings in their toil.
The Teacher shares that anyone who is living has hope - a truth that I gladly welcomed at that point of my study - and the Teacher offers a familiar passage of encouragement:
The race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise, or wealth to the brilliant, or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.
The Teacher ends the book with striking metaphors of an almond tree blossoming and a grasshopper dragging itself along. The final exhortation is clear: fear God, keep God’s commandments, and take forward the reality that God will bring every deed into judgment.
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In a time of a pandemic, and the deep sorrow it brings, Ecclesiastes may seem like a tough book with which to contend. However, as I meditated and studied, I landed on the idea that we must grapple with the paradox of this journey.
Everyone we love will pass on. Temporary sources of joy fade away. International conflicts persist across human history.
Still, the Teacher instills in us that, just as you don’t know the path of the wind, you can’t understand the work of God - the Maker of all things.
Black Liturgies recently shared that there is beauty in doubt. Our finite human comprehension couldn’t possibly begin to fathom the full breadth & depth of God. Ecclesiastes offers greater perspective to that idea.
Even though they will end, your human connections, dreams, hopes, travels, plans, and love are real. Pour into them with the knowledge, from Ecclesiastes, that they can impart great wisdom, and wisdom is indeed better than strength.