Enjoy the good God has given you

The Bible is the Good Book, filled with Good News, right? True enough, but some parts of scripture don’t come across as such good news at first reading. In fact, sitting right in the middle of your Bible is the little book of Ecclesiastes written by a cynic who seems to have a bad attitude about life. The writer of Ecclesiastes has everything he ever wanted and more and found that it was not enough. The author, who is usually thought to be Israel’s King Solomon, refers to himself only as the Teacher.

The Teacher tells of his accomplishments writing, “I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; I made myself gardens and parks…Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”

The word translated there and throughout the Book of Ecclesiastes as “vanity” is the Hebrew word Hevel. The plain-sense meaning of the word is a puff of wind, vapor, a breath. The Teacher uses Hevel to describe how everything is fleeting, quickly passing away. The Teacher looks at all his accomplishments and says that they are something that passes before it ever fully existed.

The second verse of the book says, “Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” A closer translation of the Hebrew word hevel would be something like, “A puff of wind of a puff of wind, everything is fleeting.” The New Living Translation does a great job of capturing the sense of the Hebrew as, “Everything is meaningless, utterly meaningless.”

Ecclesiastes goes on for 12 chapters of brutal honesty. Do you think you can get ahead with wealth? He writes, “Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what is the advantage of wealth—except perhaps to watch it run through your fingers!” (5:10-11).

Do you think work will bring you deep satisfaction? He writes, “All human toil is for the mouth, yet the appetite is not satisfied” (6:7). 

Do you think you can earn extra credit by acting holier than thou? You can’t fool the Teacher, he won’t fall for it. The Teacher writes, “There is not a single person on all the earth who is always good and never sins” (7:20).

The Teacher is more realist than optimist. He writes, “I have observed something else in this world of ours. The fastest runner does not always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise are often poor, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being at the right place at the right time” (9:11).

The Book of Ecclesiastes says that life is not fair and nothing you do is going to make that any better. What is this pessimistic little book doing in the Bible? First and foremost, Ecclesiastes counters bumper sticker theology. The Teacher would scoff at a saying like “Too Blessed to Be Depressed” saying that the person who wrote a ditty like that has observed too little of the evil done in this world to both the good and the bad.

Ecclesiastes also shows that it’s not only OK to question all that we have seen and experienced, it is biblical to do so. The Teacher also seems content to pose the questions without giving any lengthy discourse that can be considered an answer. If you find yourself questioning your faith, wondering what life is all about, then you have a companion on the way in the Teacher.

I think it’s important to pause just long enough to take in a breath of fresh air. In a world that will pressure you, as a Christian, to have all the answers and present a public face that says you have your act together; the Teacher says that is meaningless.

It’s OK to have more questions than answers. It’s even OK to find yourself blessed and depressed at times. That doesn’t make you any less Christian, it just makes you all the more human. And being human is a key to understanding Ecclesiastes.

The Teacher learns humility in seeing that all his possessions and accomplishments are fleeting and meaningless. Then through this book of questions, the Teacher hints at the answers. Woven in the very fabric of this book is the idea that all that we have is a gift from God to be enjoyed.

The Teacher writes, “I have noticed one thing at least that is good…To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—that is indeed a gift from God. People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, for God has given them reasons for joy” (5:18-20).

Ecclesiastes tells us to live life to the fullest by enjoying what you have or can achieve rather than by an endless pursuit of things that will not in themselves bring happiness. If you are not happy with what you have now, you will not become more happy by getting more of it, or even something else. Happiness does not come from stuff.

Know and appreciate what you have as a gift from God. The great church reformer Martin Luther wrote of Ecclesiastes, “If someone compares the good things he has with the bad things he does not have, he will finally recognize what a treasure of good things he has.”

(The Rev. Frank Logue is pastor of King of Peace Episcopal Church in Kingsland.)

previous          Return to Religion Column page