Today’s Bible Reading: Ecclesiastes 2:24 – 3:15.
The writer of Ecclesiastes (whom we have been calling Solomon) then realized something that made him happy—at least for awhile. He decided that he could just stop worrying and be happy. But, but, but, what about all of the injustices of life that he had been worrying about before? Well, just don’t worry about them.
He could have said, what point is there in being born, if you are just going to die? What point is there in planting that which will only be plucked up? What point is there in healing, or helping someone else to heal mentally or physically, if they are just going to be killed? OMG, if Solomon had known about the Second Law of Thermodynamics, he would have said, What point is there in building something up, if it is only going to break down?
Instead what he wrote is now some of the most immortal poetry of the ages. It sounds almost like a Taoist insight (yep, in the Old Testament). It also sounds like a popular song from the 1960s.
For everything there is a season, a time for everything in the world.
A time to be born, a time to die;
A time to plant, a time to pluck up;
A time to kill, a time to heal;
A time to break down, a time to build up;
A time to weep, a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, a time to dance;
A time to scatter stones, a time to gather them back up;
A time to hug, a time to stay apart;
A time to seek, a time to lose;
A time to keep, a time to throw away;
A time to tear apart, a time to sew together;
A time to remain silent, a time to speak up;
A time to love, a time to hate;
A time for war, a time for peace.
Good and evil are just part of a vast cycle, perhaps the dance of Shiva, or the battle of light vs. darkness in Zoroastrianism. There is no more point in asking why things happen this way than there is in asking why a circle is round. Yes, we should try to love and not hate; we should work for peace, and prevent war; but shit happens. It’s the circle of life.
The one thing that this approach does not match is the Judeo-Christian-Muslim tradition. The great monotheistic religions claim that there is a God who wants people to plant, build up, heal, rejoice, and seek; a God whose son was supposed to be the Prince of Peace; a God who actually is love. As a matter of fact, repeatedly in the Bible, we are told that God actually does these things, not just telling us to do them.
So, if you ask, “Why would a God of love allow…” Solomon would, in this passage, tell you, “Don’ worry, be happy.”
And this leads directly to Solomon’s advice, which flatly contradicts everything you hear in church. “There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and enjoy his work…I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. It is God’s gift to mankind that they should eat, drink, and enjoy their work.”
Of course, as we will see in future posts, Solomon is not satisfied with this advice.
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