Immerse: Poets Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 263
IMMERSED IN ECCLESIASTES
T H E B O O K S O F T H E B I B L E come
together to tell the overarching story of
God, the world, and the way back to life and blessing after humanity’s
rebellion against the Creator. We don’t live in a world where everyone
follows the wisdom of God’s good ways. Many things have gone terribly
wrong. Therefore our experience is a deep mystery: We know not only
creation and life but also brokenness and death.
There is one place in the Bible where this mystery is addressed headon: the book of Ecclesiastes. Here the author recognizes that things
are more complex than the simple pattern generally found in Proverbs
(if you do good, good things will happen to you). The more probing
wisdom of Ecclesiastes acknowledges hard truths:
What is wrong cannot be made right.
What is missing cannot be recovered.
This somber statement proclaims that life is inscrutable and unpredictable in many ways. Ecclesiastes looks at the experience of life as it is
really lived rather than trying to rationally explain everything. It relentlessly explores what actually happens “under the sun,” that is, in the
world as we know it.
Ecclesiastes contains the reflections of a man known as the Teacher,
traditionally associated with Solomon, who should be respected because he “was considered wise, and he taught the people everything
he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them.” The Teacher knows all about the helpful and compact
wisdom sayings of the sages. Yet he is clearly frustrated by his experiences of life’s injustices, absurdities, and impermanence. The thing that
is so hard to find in our world is good and fulfilling meaning that lasts
beyond a lifetime, or even a moment.
Often we find that significant portions of life are unfulfilling and
superficial. The achievements and benefits of prolonged hard work
can be quickly lost by unforeseen disasters and the poor stewardship
of others. Even gaining wisdom itself doesn’t necessarily help us have
success in life. So what, then, is the point of it all?
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