Solomon's World View

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

I was once out climbing with my brother and carried a small rock in my pocket to place on the top of a mountain that we were climbing. As I placed the rock on the ground, my brother asked what I was doing. I explained that it had taked the wind and rain hundreds if not thousands of years to transport that rock from the top of the mountain to the bottom and in less than an hour, I had just returned it to the top. Now it would take nature another hundred to thousand years to transport it back to the bottom.

It was a small victory, but it was a victory against the forces of entropy. So Ecclesiastics 1:4 is only "sort of" true.

I like this story.

I can't think of a place where the Bible talks much about entropy. Things are sort of framed in terms of order and chaos.

 

[atpollard]

I like this story.

I can't think of a place where the Bible talks much about entropy. Things are sort of framed in terms of order and chaos.

I think Entropy is the undoing of order (a return to undivided chaos)?

 

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

I think Entropy is the undoing of order (a return to undivided chaos)?

The way they taught it to me in university was opposite of that. Entropy was where a system tried to reduce itself to a more stable, orderly state. Life by contrast was chaotic and energetic.

Then again, my "science" degree is in accounting.

 

[atpollard]

The way they taught it to me in university was opposite of that. Entropy was where a system tried to reduce itself to a more stable, orderly state. Life by contrast was chaotic and energetic.

Then again, my "science" degree is in accounting.

I was thinking of the first three days of creation, where God “divides” and entropy where earth and water merge (into mud?) and heat and cold merge (no light and darkness).

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 9:10 . . Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is
no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

"grave" is an arbitrary translation of the Hebrew word sheol, which Jonah
discovered is located at the bottoms of the mountains (Jonah 2:2, Jonah 2:6) Well;
the bottoms of the mountains aren't situated in the tummy of a fish, nor found
under the sea, rather; they're deep underground.

I think Solomon was trying to get across that folks in sheol are mighty bored down
there 'cause there's nothing to help them pass the time nor to keep their minds and
hands occupied.

For example: supposing someone's pleasurable pastime in life is Christian forums
where they can post colorful graphics and beautiful poems. Well; according to
Solomon there's no creativity in sheol, nor art, nor computers, nor even so much as
internet service.

"there is no wisdom in sheol."

That situation must be terribly discouraging for scholars like Carl Sagan. He loved
libraries and often visited schools as a guest science speaker.

Up here on the surface, wisdom is increased not only by study, but also by
experimentation and exploration. None of those pursuits are available down in
sheol. Life as the lost knew it stopped the moment they checked in.

As I was watching a prison documentary on NetFlix some time ago, an elderly man
- sweeping with a broom out in the yard --said, in so many words: Guys come in
here thinking their life is over. It ain't over; it's just different.

That old guy was a lifer, but he was at peace with his situation-- an amazing
attitude for an institutionalized man with no hope of ever again having a normal life
on the outside. At some point in his unfortunate journey, he had worked his way
thru the five steps of the Kübler-Ross model: denial, anger, bargaining, depression
and finally: acceptance.

● Ecc 9:11a . . I again saw under the sun that the race is not [always] to the swift,
and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise, nor wealth to
the discerning, nor favor to men of ability;

Typically races are won by the swift, but if the swift should trip and fall, they will
lose the race in spite of their superior speed. Battles are usually won by the valiant,
not the timid. But again, not always. If the valiant are dunces, then the timid with
brains can outsmart them. Food and money are usually plentiful in the homes of
people who have a head on their shoulders; but again, if the wise should suddenly
lose everything by an economic catastrophe; like the Wall Street collapse of 2008,
then all the financial know-how in the world won't buy them a single loaf of bread
down at the local Safeway.

The word "favor" is from a Hebrew word that means not only graciousness but also
beauty. For some strange reason, nature allows only a relatively small percentage
of beautiful people to have any brains or develop any really useful, productive
skills. Most of the achievers in life, like chemists, astronomers, architects,
mathematicians, writers, movie makers, physicists, engineers, and designers et al;
are ordinary-looking people. The beautiful people are often dead wood (and dead
heads). Whenever I look behind the scenes of really difficult movies like Inception,
Matrix, Avatar, and Monsters Inc; I'm amazed at the rather unexceptional looks of
many of the makers of our favorite movies. They just don't appear to be all that
smart and creative.

I noticed the same thing in my job as a Federal civilian employee. The headquarters
in my district has a noticeable shortage of attractive men and women because the
government, as a rule, doesn't hire people in respect to how well they fill out their
clothes or reflect in a mirror, but in respect to how well their minds work.

● Ecc 9:11b . . for time and chance overtake them all.

There are no guarantees in life. It's a gamble. I know of a clerk in Costco who spent
four years in college majoring in Sociology. There was plenty of demand for people
with that kind of a degree when he entered college; but by the time he finished
school, the demand had dwindled and my graduate friend had to get a job as a fry
cook in a Mongolian grill.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 9:12 . . And a man cannot even know his time. As fishes are enmeshed in a
fatal net, and as birds are trapped in a snare, so men are caught at the time of
calamity, when it comes upon them without warning.

A machinist employed by the Corps of Engineers here in Portland Oregon where I
once worked as a welder, volunteered to go and help out with the rescue and clean
up operation in New York after the World Trade Center was hit with airliners
hijacked by Islamic patriots. On return, he remarked how he was puzzled by
parking structures near ground zero full of very expensive autos like BMW,
Corvette, and Lexus that were covered with dirt day after day. He wondered why
the people who owned those beautiful cars never washed them.

Then he realized why. It was because those cars once belonged to commuters who
worked in the Trade Center-- commuters who were caught by total surprise in the
sudden destruction of not only their place of employment, but also of their very
lives. Whatever they had planned for that day, was instantly canceled forever. The
owners never dreamed that the miles they drove to work that day would be their
cars' very last.

Sudden-death incidents like that happen all the time. Back in Feb 2017, actor Bill
Paxton was in the hospital for treatment of an aortic aneurysm when he suddenly
died of a stroke on the operating table. It claimed his life right out of the blue like a
stray bullet from a drive-by.

Back in March 2013, Florida man Jeff Bush vanished down a sink hole that opened
right under his bedroom; no warning. You just never know when your number is up
in a way least expected.

● Ecc 9:13-16 . .This thing too I observed under the sun about wisdom, and it
affected me profoundly. There was a little city, with few men in it; and to it came a
great king, who surrounded it and built mighty siege works against it. Residing in
the city was a poor wise man who might have saved it with his wisdom, but nobody
thought of that poor man. So I observed: Wisdom is better than valor; but a poor
man's wisdom is scorned, and his words are not heeded.

A pity that the truly wise are not always famous nor widely respected; whereas the
boastful, the narcissistic, the achievers, and the ambitious always seem to find
ample public opportunity to express their opinions, and ways to get them
implemented.

But unless you have access to millions of dollars, you can forget running for either
the US President, the US Senate, or State Governor. The poor stand little chance
running for office no matter how wise and capable they might be because wisdom
and ability alone are not enough. Political office is typically won by the powerful, the
influential, and/or those who have very rich friends and the support of very large
special interests.

●Ecc 9:17 . .The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting
of a ruler among fools.

Unfortunately, the words of the wise are all too often heard in private. They seldom
have a large public audience because the wise are neither popular, nor charismatic.
The masses want to be entertained by a silver-tongued speaker of grand verbiage
and a promoter of impossible social agendas. Bombastic plans for the future seem
to be the tried and true method of every successful politician. They offer hope you
can believe in; but in reality, all they actually have to offer are impossible ideals.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

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● Ecc 9:18 . .Wisdom is more valuable than weapons of war, but a single error
destroys much of value.

Although wisdom may have more value than a cruise missile, it isn't nearly as
effective as that weapon in its purpose. It should be noted that a cruise missile isn't
launched indiscriminately; but usually launched only after the wisdom of diplomacy
has run its course and left the wisdom of warfare no choice but to do its thing; and
its thing these days can be the destruction of an entire city by just one bomb.

Equipment and munitions, no matter how sophisticated nor how destructive, are
wasted in the hands of those untrained and unskilled in their use. So wisdom and
weapons of war work together for a victory. But obviously wisdom is the more
valuable of the two because it is through wisdom that war materiel is employed to
its best effect.

Former US President John F. Kennedy once commented in a speech: Every man
woman and child is under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest
thread, capable of being cut at any moment by accident, miscalculation, or by
madness.

In other words, geniuses figured out how to harness fission, but its application is
sometimes subject to the arbitrary discretion of fools and Murphy's law.

A really good example of a single error destroying much of value was a 1998 NASA
Mars robotic probe that failed to achieve its intended orbit around Mars due to
ground-based computer software which produced output in non-SI units of pound
(force)-seconds (lbf•s) instead of the SI units of newton-seconds (N•s) specified in
the contract between NASA and Lockheed.

As a result of that one software boo-boo; the spacecraft encountered Mars on a
trajectory that brought it too close to the planet, causing it to pass through the
upper atmosphere and disintegrate. All the ingenious designing and engineering
that went into constructing a perfectly good orbiter, and getting it out to Mars, went
for naught.

Another good example was the Hubble Space Telescope flub. Nobody physically
tested the Hubble's optics before sending the machine into near-earth orbit because
a computer model convinced the telescope's makers that everything was okay as-is
and needed no testing. As a result, Hubble's initial data produced images little
better than those seen by an elderly person with cataracts. Ouch!

● Ecc 10:1 . . Dead insects will cause even a bottle of perfume to stink! Yes, an
ounce of foolishness can outweigh a pound of wisdom and honor.

Before the wonders of modern chemistry, perfumes were made (and many still are)
from animal and vegetable sources. Those, being all-natural, in a day prior to
modern preservatives, could spoil if the perfumer wasn't careful to keep his product
protected from exposure to temperature, insects, dirt, moisture, and other
contaminants. All the skills and patience and knowledge exercised in the making of
expensive scents could be completely annulled by simply forgetting to put the cap
back on a jar.

Anyway, Ecc 10:1 certainly rings true in this day and age as the Roman Catholic
Church's credibility steadily goes down the tubes because of its ongoing pedophilia
scandals aggravated by its deplorable cover-ups. And Dr. Anthony Fauci's mantra
"Follow The Science" is now serving to blow his Covid19 response out of the water.

As I write this, we have a US President here in America whose every word has to be
coached lest his thoughtless gaffes bring discredit to not only his political party, but
the whole country; which goes to show that just one foolish man in a position of
influence can cause a lot of damage to an entire system's reputation.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 10:2 . . A wise man's mind tends toward the right hand, a fool's toward the
left.

The right hand is the most useful and dexterous of the two hands. (at least for
right-handed people anyway). It swings hammers and it writes letters. It pulls back
the bow string, and it wields the sword and axe. It holds your cup of coffee, and it
stirs cake mix. So to put your mind towards your right hand is to make your mind
the leader in your efforts; in contrast to the fool who doesn't bother taking time to
think anything through before charging ahead. The fool leaves behind him a wake
of errors; and is always learning things the hard way. His favorite (full time)
university is the School Of Hard Knocks. Pity, but it seems to be the only way he
ever learns anything.

● Ecc 10:3 . . A fool's mind is also wanting when he travels, and he lets everybody
know he is a fool.

For some strange reason, the average male doesn't like to ask for directions when
he travels. Women usually don't mind at all because they want to get where they're
going. The men want to get there too, but they don't want to get there as wimpy
men; they want to find their own way there as macho men. They prefer to think of
themselves as commandos, patrol leaders: map and compass experts. So they
often end up lost and turned around because their male pride won't permit them to
let somebody (especially wives and girlfriends) help find the way.

And then there are people who don't prepare for emergencies when they travel.
They don't bring a car blanket, nor hat, nor paper towels, nor tarp, nor flares, nor
water, nor first aid supplies, nor flashlight, nor food-- their spare tire is flat, and
they haven't a clue how to install their car's tire chains (that is; if they even have a
set) and they try to get by all year long on regular tires rather than go to the
trouble of purchasing and installing seasonal tires.

● Ecc 10:4 . . If the wrath of a lord flares up against you, don't give up your post;
for when wrath abates, grave offenses are pardoned.

It is amazing how time has a way of healing things, and making people's anger
dissipate. If your boss blows his top at you for something or other and rakes you
over the coals, don't lose heart and quit your job just yet. He'll cool off after a while
and soon be back to his old self again.

Sooner or later, the boss himself will trip up and do something stupid like sexual
harassment or creating a hostile workplace; thus putting himself in the awkward
position of owing you one. Then you'll be even, and can go on as if nothing ever
happened; and he'll be very glad you didn't do something rash like haul him down
to the Equal Employment Opportunity office and make an issue of his professional
conduct.

● Ecc 10:5-6 . . Here is an evil I have seen under the sun as great as an error
committed by a ruler: Folly was placed on lofty heights, while rich men sat in low
estate. I have seen slaves on horseback, and nobles walking on the ground like
slaves.

That is more a contrast between the nature of two types of character than actual
estate. A good biblical example of what Solomon is talking about can be seen at
Acts 23:23-24:27; where Paul the apostle mounted his defense against the
accusations of his Jewish enemies before a Roman governor named Felix.

Felix wasn't born into nobility. No, he was actually an emancipated slave who
worked himself up to rank by craftiness and cruelty. Felix ruled, not with a
nobleman's mentality, but with a slave's. Tacitus, Hist. 5, says this of Felix: Per
omnem saevitiam ac libidinem jus regium servili ingenio exercuit -- "He used royal
power with a servile genius, and in connection with all the varieties of cruelty and
lust."

Felix should have been judged by Paul, not the other way around. As Paul
discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became
nervous and said: That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it
convenient, I will send for you. (Acts 24:25)

Felix's wife, Drusilla, was a piece of work herself. Her father was Herod Agrippa 1,
the one who ordered the death of James the brother of John (Acts 12:2). Her great
uncle, another Herod, ordered Jesus' cousin John beheaded (Mk 6:27). And last
but not least, her great grandfather was the infamous Herod who ordered the
slaughter of pre-schoolers. (Matt 2:16)
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 10:8-9 . . He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who
breaks through a wall. He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who
splits logs may be endangered by them.

Anyone who's ever chopped kindling, already knows how normal it is for sticks of
wood to fly up into your face from a blow of the axe.

One of the most dangerous jobs up here in the northwest is logging. There's ten
ways from Sunday to get yourself injured logging. Chain saws rip men, loose
boughs called widow-makers fall on their heads, cables called chokers sometimes
catch the men and crush their hands, tear them in half or pull an arm or leg off
their bodies; falling trees lurch and skid rearwards off the stump to hit the logger if
he forgets to stand off to the side. They are constantly tripping and falling, getting
scratched, bitten by bugs, yelled at, cursed, and threatened by the Bull of the
woods (their foreman).

Should men stop logging because it's dangerous? Should they stop digging trenches
for pipelines because sometimes the trenches cave in? Should they stop tearing
down old buildings for new shopping malls and apartment houses because there
might be a rattler, or a scorpion, or a brown recluse spider in the rubble? No. All
those hazards just quite naturally come with the turf.

Blue collar men are constantly in danger. But a wise worker will pay attention in
safety meetings, and put into practice what's he's taught so he doesn't
inadvertently kill himself in the process of bringing home the bacon. My boss always
said: Bud; I don't care if you get killed on the job just so long as you do it safely.
(chuckle) That's one of the paradoxes of the blue collar world. Safe working
practices save many lives and limbs; but none are fool proof.

● Ecc 10:10 . . If the axe has become dull and he has not whetted the edge, he
must exert more strength. Thus the advantage of a skill [depends on the exercise
of] prudence.

We have a saying in the blue collar world: Work smarter, not harder. Many times a
job can be facilitated by just simply taking the time to go and get the right tool
instead of struggling to make do with the wrong one. But men can be stubborn;
and are sometimes careless, lazy and/or in a hurry; with often predictable results.

● Ecc 10:11 . . If the snake bites because no spell was uttered, no advantage is
gained by the trained charmer.

That continues the thought from verse 10: "Thus the advantage of a skill [depends
on the exercise of] prudence."

Trained snake charmers lose control over cobras when they fail to exercise the
snake charming skills they learned in training. Charmers can't just sit there and do
nothing. The snake might strike and end the show before the charmer gets any
money from his audience. That principle obviously applies in just about any area of
life where skills (and prudence) are required to produce results; like driving a car,
SCUBA diving, banking, typing, sewing, cooking, rock climbing, welding . .
whatever. Trainings and skills are only valuable when they're applied and put to
use.

● Ecc 10:12-14a . . A wise man's talk brings him favor, but a fool's lips are his
undoing. His talk begins as silliness and ends as disastrous madness. Yet the fool
talks and talks!

There are some talk shows on television that I simply cannot endure because the
hosts are so rude and disorderly. Those people continually interrupt each other and
hardly let the others complete a sentence before blurting out their own thoughts;
and many times all are talking at once with a din that reminds me of a chicken
house with all the birds clucking and squawking an incoherent cacophony.

For some people, every conversation is a venue for monologue: they do all the
talking. I used to work with a young man who not only talked very fast, but with a
pretty fair amount of animated arm waving and head tossing to go with it. He had a
maddening habit of never finishing one topic at a time. In mid sentence he would
branch off to another; leaving the first incomplete. His conversation was like that
continually and the effect was nerve jangling because your mind was constantly
shifting gears trying to keep up with each new train of his erratic thoughts.

People's words are like pools of water. Some are very deep; yet so clear that you
can see all the way down. Others are shallow, but alas, so murky that we cannot
see even one inch below the surface.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 10:14b . . A man cannot know what will happen; who can tell him what the
future holds?

Well . . some people seem to know a little something about everything. No matter
what topic comes up in conversation, they have something to share about it as if
you were the student, and they the master; and they are prolific with rash
predictions about this and about that, e.g. "just you wait and see" and/or "mark my
words."

● Ecc 10:15 . . A fool's exertions tire him out, for he doesn't know how to get to a
town.

(chuckle) There's a modern colloquialism similar to that one: So and so is so dumb
that he doesn't know his right hand from his left. Or: He wouldn't be able to find his
nose if it wasn't attached to his face. That's the general impression bucket-mouths
make upon their victims.

"Sooner meet a bereaved she-bear than a fool with his nonsense." (Pro 17:12)

"A knowledgeable man is sparing with his words; a man of understanding is
reticent. Even a fool, if he keeps silent, is deemed wise-- intelligent, if he seals his
lips." (Pro 17:27-28)

It isn't necessary to be an aged wizard like Gandalf to be truly wise because
wisdom isn't really measured by a person's age. It's measured in good sense. Frodo
the Hobbit, although young and inexperienced, is wise in his own way. Some of his
friends are imbeciles. But not Frodo. Although he enjoys a good time as well as any
of his peers, Frodo is careful to avoid stupidity. Because he exercises a considerable
amount of self control, Frodo is the only inhabitant of Middle Earth who can be
trusted to bear the one ring that rules them all.

● Ecc 10:16a . .Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad

It is a very sad time in a country's progress when the young are getting their own
way. Some see lowering the USA voting age to 18 as progress and a step in the
right direction. The Bible would see it as an evidence of America's decadence. God
is known for punishing Moses' people by saddling them with immature leadership.
For example:

"He will destroy all the nation's leaders-- the heroes, soldiers, judges, prophets,
diviners, elders, army officers, honorable citizens, advisers, skilled magicians, and
expert enchanters. Then he will appoint children to rule over them, and anarchy will
prevail. People will take advantage of each other-- man against man, neighbor
fighting neighbor. Young people will revolt against authority, and nobodies will
sneer at honorable people." (Isa 3:2-5)

Children's activities, like little league baseball and cub scouts, need adult
supervision. Kids, no matter how intelligent, just haven't the maturity to rule either
themselves or others. Management of lands and peoples requires a degree of
maturity, experience, and self discipline; which is why it's totally stupid to lower the
voting age instead of raising it especially when the new 21 in America is now
somewhere around 26, and where civil disobedience is thought to be patriotic, and
where parent-demeaning sitcoms rate high in television programming.

● Ecc 10:16b-17 . . and whose princes feast in the morning. Blessed are you, O
land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time-- for
strength, and not for drunkenness.

The word translated "princes" means: a head person of any rank or class--
captains, chiefs, generals, governors, keepers, lords, taskmasters, monarchs,
kings, magnates, barons, czars, foremen, supervisors, etc.

A hearty breakfast of pancakes, fruit, and cereal wouldn't be considered feasting.
But a banquet, replete with alcohol, so early in the day, would have to be construed
as indulgence. Here in America, where we have so much, overeating is a big
problem. Many of us don't eat because we're hungry. No, we eat for recreation:
simply because we like food.

* Overeating isn't the same as gluttony. Real gluttony is where revelers stuff
themselves then regurgitate it so they can continue. But chronic overeating can be
evidence of the possible presence of other vices. There used to be an old saying
that chubby people are the happiest people. But we now know that over-eating is
often the result of psychological problems like depression and anxiety disorders. Is
that the kind of people we need in positions of leadership? I seriously doubt it.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 10:18-19 . .Through slothfulness the ceiling sags, through lazy hands the
house caves in. They make a banquet for revelry; wine makes life merry, and
money answers every need.

People with vices often put a higher priority upon satisfying their appetites than
taking care of business. Drug addicts often lose their jobs for non-productivity and
tardiness. Some lose their friends, and their mental health. Gamblers risk the loss
of their homes, credit ratings, and bank accounts. Binge eaters risk heart attacks,
strokes, and hardening of the arteries. Smokers risk cancer, premature aging, and
high blood pressure. And addicts on meth risk losing their teeth, ergo: the best
time to break a bad habit is before it starts.

● Ecc 10:20 . . Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in
your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your words, and a bird on the
wing may report what you say.

The Hebrew word translated "revile" basically means: to belittle, vilify, despise or
express contempt for someone. It can also mean to wish (either in your heart or
out loud) for someone's misfortune, or to hope they experience some sort of harm,
calamity, and/or injury.

Vilifying the rich is one thing; but vilifying those that employ you in their business is
quite another and can possibly lead to the loss of a promotion, or even your job.

Solomon's advice on this point is extremely valuable; and the practice of discretion
is an outstanding social skill. It never seems to fail, that when friends get together,
some begin airing petty grievances against their supervisors. Of course they
wouldn't dare do this if any of the supervisors' friends were around; but they make
the common mistake of assuming their friends are all loyal, and can keep a secret,
and protect them from scandal. But you just never know who among your friends
might be wearing two faces; and looking for an opportunity to curry favor with the
very person you just now ran into the ground.

Even the walls can quite literally have ears. One year, we were on vacation and
staying at a friend's home in the town where we were. Well, one evening as my
wife and I were planning our itinerary for the next day, I complained that the day
would be ruined if our host wanted to come with us. Guess what? Their home had
central heating and every room was equipped with a vent that connected to the
main ductwork; which quite effectively carried sounds to every room in the house
like a tubular telegraph system. Our host overheard everything we said.

Nowadays we pretty much have to assume that strange rooms, and even our
workplaces, are equipped with hidden microphones and tiny little video cameras.
Privacy is becoming scarcer and scarcer in the modern world and surveillance more
common.

● Ecc 11:1-2 . . Send your bread forth upon the waters; for after many days you
will find it. Distribute portions to seven or even to eight, for you cannot know what
misfortune may occur on earth.

In Solomon's opinion; a well-rounded person is charitable. Altruism is one of those
characteristics that should be included in everyone's social résumé; and makes us a
better person for it. Nowadays, college aspirants have to put in some time
benefiting their communities in some way because it looks good on an application.

They say charity begins at home. From there, it moves on out into the
neighborhood, and ultimately into the world: foreign aid for example. Some people
object to foreign aid because it drains American resources badly needed on the
home front. But drain or not, it's a good policy. Not only is it humanitarian, and
therefore morally right; but you just never know when America herself will be down
and out and the very people who were down on their luck that we assisted with
weapons, food, technology, and medicine, might one day reciprocate and help us
out in some way.

America is sometimes accused of buying friends with foreign aid, and no doubt
some of that is true. But not always. And even if it were 100% true; so what? You
don't need to love people to be charitable. It makes good sense to build yourself a
base of good will just in case you need a favor some day. People you have helped
are more inclined to help you back than those you ignored; and in this big bad
world, you need all the friends you can get.

"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is
gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." (Luke 16:9)

Most of the time, guests wear out their welcome and sometimes are even asked to
leave. But "eternal dwellings" suggests that out of gratitude for your charity, your
host is likely to be favorably inclined to invite you to remain as long as you like.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 11:3-6 . . If the clouds are filled, they will pour down rain on the earth; and if
a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will stay where it falls. If one
watches the wind, he will never sow; and if one observes the clouds, he will never
reap.

. . . Just as you do not know how the life-breath passes into the limbs within the
womb of the pregnant woman, so you cannot foresee the actions of God, who
causes all things to happen. Sow your seed in the morning, and don’t hold back
your hand in the evening, since you don’t know which is going to succeed, the one
or the other, or if both are equally good.

Just about any mention of a "God" in the book of Ecclesiastes is superficial rhetoric,
and has nothing to do with genuine faith.

Anyway; what Solomon seems to be saying is: If people waited until all the
conditions were just right before making a move, life would pass them by and many
opportunities would be missed. In other words: "Life is a risk; take it."

● Ecc 11:7-8 . . How sweet is the light, what a delight for the eyes to behold the
sun! Even if a man lives many years, let him enjoy himself in all of them,
remembering how many the days of darkness are going to be. The only future is
nothingness!

We know from the revealed portions of scripture that the afterlife is neither
darkness nor nothingness. But in the limited perception of the man under the sun,
one's existence on earth is all there is. Philosophically then, it's wasteful to
suppress one's potential in this life when the end of all opportunity is so inevitable.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 11:9-10 . . Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be
pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart
and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all
these things. So, remove vexation from your heart and put away pain from your
body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.

I let my past go too fast,
No time to pause.
If I could slow it all down,
Like some captain whose ship runs aground,
I could wait until the tide comes around.
RUSH, Time Stand Still, 1987

Life can't be put on hold, nor can one pause and savor the moment because
moments are momentary. The instant moments happen, they become fixed in the
frozen sea of the past. People who think to save themselves for marriage for
example, can do no such thing. One cannot save life as if it were possible to put life
in storage. No, life goes on. When people try to save themselves for later; they only
end up letting themselves go to waste because youth isn't static; no, youth is left
behind like the treads of a rope bridge crumbling off behind you for every step
taken as you cross over to the other side; ergo: the time to live life is while you
have it; not wait to live it later after you've gone to seed. That rope bridge steadily
gets to the point when there are no treads left to retrace your steps.

Young people should enjoy a young person's life to the fullest while they have the
chance; but of course not to excess because any reasonable sense of justice
expects a day when a supreme being will call everyone into account. But
nevertheless; there is a lot to life that can be fully enjoyed only while we are
young. Age takes the pleasure out of many things in life that were once fresh and
exciting.

Take Disneyland in Los Angeles for example. Walt's park was built in the 1950's,
completed just three years before I became a teen-ager. Oh; how I yearned to go
there and ride the Jungle Cruise, a boat ride on the rivers of the world-- and we
lived in San Diego, only a measly ninety miles from Anaheim. Well, my mom and
dad never did take us; and I didn't go on my own until I got out of the Army; but
by then the thrill was gone; it was more of a curiosity than a pleasure. You know
why? Because I wasn't a kid anymore. So don't let youth slip through your fingers.
Don't put off kid things till you are older; because when you are older, kid things
won't be near as much fun nor will they be nearly as interesting either.

There was a time when I had 20-20 vision and could gaze at the stars with my
naked eyes and see them all crisp and sharp, even the really tiny ones. Then one
day I started noticing birds with four wings. Astigmatism had crept up on me and
there was nothing I could do about it except start wearing glasses.

In later years, I developed cataracts; which make it difficult to drive at night
because the headlights of oncoming cars are like looking at flares through an oily
window and make it really hard for me to see the white lines. Even in bright
daylight, cataracts prevented me from reading street signs till I was very close and
then of course too late to safely turn on the one I wanted. So now I have artificial
lenses in both eyes to go along with the artificial joints that I already had in both
knees.

Romance especially is dulled by age. When you're young, love and romance take
your breath away, you can't sleep for the excitement of it all, and all you can think
of is being with your lover. Well, when you get older, it's not like that. And I don't
mean real old either. People in only their mid thirties and forties no longer feel the
same rush any more.

Life is one of those things that you cannot go back and do over. You're only young
once; and you feel the feelings of the young only once too; and that's for a
relatively brief time compared to the remainder of your life.

I was once asked, in the 6th grade, by a sadistic male school principal who caught
me acting silly in the cafeteria: "Aren't you ever going to grow up?" I answered; "I
don't want to grow up." He was immediately indignant, and demanded to know
why. I replied; "Because grown-ups are unhappy."

He was annoyed by my answer; but no doubt knew in his heart I was right. I never
saw that man happy. He was always irritable and upset at the students for one
thing or another and everyone feared him. You know, looking back, I don't think
that man was even 35 yet; and just look how much of the exuberance of youth he
had already lost even by the time of that relatively early age.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 12:1 . . So appreciate your vigor in the days of your youth, before those days
of sorrow come and those years arrive of which you will say: I have no pleasure in
them.

Most people cope pretty well with middle age, and old age too-- as long as they're
in good health, their mind is sound and, they have the right attitude. But nobody
does good with advanced age.

Your bowels won't work right, you'll be incontinent and smell bad; diverticulitis
causes blood in your stools, your skin will be thin and easily torn, blue veins pop
out on your legs and on the backs of your hands, you won't see things unless
they're right under your nose, your sense of smell will be weak right along with
your sense of taste. Savory foods will taste like cardboard and your stomach can't
deal with them anyway.

No more hiking, no more bicycle rides, no more airplane trips, and very little travel.
Walking, if you're able to walk at all, will really be little more than a shuffle of slow,
flat footed, jerky little short steps rather than a brisk fluid stroll.

● Ecc 12:2 . . before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds
come back again after the rain:

Often, as people get older and their health begins to fail, friends will ask: Hey,
how's ol' so and so doing? And someone will say: Oh, he has his good days and he
has his bad days. Well, eventually ol' so and so will have only his bad days and no
good days ever again.

● Ecc 12:3a . .When the keepers of the house become shaky,

Keeping house requires the use of one's hands for mopping, dusting, and doing
laundry and dishes. Aged people's hands tremble. They can't hold anything steady.
In fact, they have so little strength and dexterity left in their hands that they can't
grasp anything securely; so they drop stuff a lot.

● Ecc 12:3b . . And the men of valor are bent,

Those in advanced age, even if they were once proud Olympic athletes, can't stand
up straight and keep their shoulders back anymore. Older people get bent and
hunched. They shrink too, and some practically curl over like a fish hook.

My mother-in-law really loved birds. But her back was so bent over that she
couldn't look up to see them, and unless they were only a few yards away, she
couldn't even lift her head high enough to see the ones down low on the ground. I
could've gotten her the finest Leica optics money can buy, but it would just be
throwing money out with the recycle. She couldn't use them on a birding trip, nor
could she even go on one. And if that weren't enough, she lost the use of one eye
because of glaucoma.

● Ecc 12:3c . . the grinding ones stand idle because they are few,

Before the advent of dentures and professional dental care, people commonly lost
their teeth from decay and gum disease. As they got older, people lost more and
more teeth until the day came when there finally weren't enough teeth left in their
mouth to bite off food and chew it. Foods like grains, meats, and many crispy fresh
fruits and vegetables were simply out of the question; so they had to eat mushy
foods, foods that were overcooked; or that didn't require a lot of biting and
chewing. There's still a lot of that in third world countries.

● Ecc 12:3d . . and those that look through the windows grow dim,

Cataracts are a common ailment among the aged. It's a cruel condition because it
clouds the eye's lens thus preventing full passage of light to the retina. When I had
my own cataracts treated, I was amazed. Not only was the world a whole lot
brighter, but colors were more vivid too. But back in Solomon's day, there was no
treatment for cataracts; so people's eyesight just waxed worse and worse as time
went on to the point where they could no longer even get around on their own or
even so much as recognize familiar friends.

● Ecc 12:4a . . And the doors to the street are shut--

The doors are shut because aged people get chilled easily by drafts. Riding on a city
transit bus once, in the dead of summer in San Diego, some senior citizens shut my
window because the air blowing in was making them cold even though the rest of
us on board were broiling in the heat.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 12:4b . . with the noise of the hand mill growing fainter, and the song of the
bird growing feebler, and all the strains of music dying down;

I've lost some of my hearing in the higher and lower ranges. It's natural and to be
expected, even at my age which, to date, is 79. Hearing aids help a lot so we don't
have to yell so loud at aged folks in order for them to hear us. Just imagine not
being able to enjoy your favorite music; or straining to hear ordinary conversation.

● Ecc 12:5a . .When one is afraid of heights

We can fall aplenty when we're young and get away with it. Our joints are tight and
strong, our ligaments are taught and springy, our bones are solid and tough, and
we can handle all the bumps and bruises life throws at us. But not so when we
reach advanced age. Falls, even little falls, are extremely hazardous; and can even
be fatal.

Every now and then the news runs a story of an aged person who stumbled and fell
at home and broke a hip; and couldn't even reach the telephone to call for help;
sometimes laying there for days until the landlord or relatives checked in on them.
I knew an aged lady who's broken hip actually caused her death. Her body was so
weak already from fighting cancer that the broken hip put it over the edge.

● Ecc 12:5b . . And there is fear on the road.

Back in Solomon's day, people didn't move about cocooned in the safety and
comfort of a shell of metal and glass like many of us do today in modern motorized
vehicles. Well; they didn't have inoculations for pneumonia back then so the aged
were always in danger of literally catching their death outdoors due to exposure to
wind, rain, cold, and dampness.

Back in 1966, I drove up to Oregon from San Diego all alone in a VW and slept in
the car at night rather than pay for a motel. I was only 22 years old then and
totally unconcerned for my safety. Today, at 79, I would not even think of such a
venture; too risky, any number of things could go wrong which, back then, I
wouldn't have given a second thought.

● Ecc 12:5c . . The almond tree may blossom, the grasshopper be [gravid], and the
caper bush may bud again; but man sets out for his eternal abode, with mourners
all around in the street.

Nature isn't dismayed by the passing of a human being. Flowers continue to bloom,
bugs continue to multiply, and fruit continues to appear on vines, bushes, and
trees; and birds continue to migrate. When people drop dead, the world doesn't
drop dead with them. Trees and flowers go right on budding and blooming, fish go
on swimming, birds go on flying, bees go on buzzing, the Earth goes right on
turning, and the Moon goes right on shining as usual just like nothing ever
happened.

The world was doing just fine before any one of us came along, and it will go on
doing just fine after we're all gone. When those 2,829 people died in the 2001
terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and another 200,000+ were killed in the
2010 Haiti earthquake, and another 169,752 were killed in the 2004 tsunami in
Indonesia, and yet another 25,000 killed and/or went missing in Japan's tsunami in
2011 --nature felt neither pity nor remorse; and the stars in their courses didn't
dim even the slightest.

Standard funerals here in the USA are actually harmful because they're anti green.
The figures below represent chemicals and construction materials consumed on
account of, and/or buried with, America's dead in just one calendar year.

» 30,000,000+ board feet of hardwoods

» 100,000+ tons of bronze, steel, and copper

» 1,000,000+ tons of concrete.

» 1,000,000+ gallons of formaldehyde

Not to mention the 2,000,000+ acres of land devoted to existing cemeteries
maintained with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and petro-chemical fertilizers
which all eventually leach into the soil and into our water sources.

We are literally killing the planet to honor our dead. And the irony of it all-- the
sublime irony --is that the reason half of us go to funerals is to pay our respects to
people we couldn't be bothered with when they were alive.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 12:6 . . Yes, remember your creator now, before the silver cord snaps and
the golden bowl crashes, the jar is shattered at the spring, and the jug is smashed
at the cistern.

Well; you know what they say about Humpty Dumpty: All the king's horses and all
the king's men couldn't put Humpty back together again.

People with money, like king Solomon, had fancy lighting in their homes.
Chandeliers made of ornate bowls overlaid with gold, containing oil or candles, were
suspended from the ceiling by metal contraptions made of silver. Ancient bowls,
and jars, and jugs were fragile. Once broken, they weren't repaired, but discarded
and replaced with a new unit. Man is like that-- just a fragile vessel; and death
destroys him beyond repair like one of Solomon's terracotta dishes.

● Ecc 12:7a . . And the dust returns to the ground as it was,

Man's body is composed of mother nature's physical elements. She wants them
back. But the power that makes things alive doesn't consist of mother nature's
elements. The power of life is divine; and God (or the gods, whatever) wants it
back after you're done with it.

● Ecc 12:7b . . and the life-breath returns to God [or the gods; whatever] who
bestowed it.

In other words; man's life is a short-term loan.

● Ecc 12:8 . . Utter futility-- said Koheleth --all is meaningless!

Well, there you have it-- an objective evaluation of the human experience. It's
fragile, brief, subject to termination without the benefit of even so much as a
moment's notice, and punctuated with misery. Is it any wonder then that from the
perspective of a man under the sun; the human experience is completely pointless?

When people reach what is commonly called the age of reasoning; some of their
very first questions are: Why am I here? Where did I come from? What is the
meaning of life, and is there a purpose for mine?

I think it's very normal (or at least very common) for people to seek a reason for
their existence; and without it, they can only conclude that the human experience
is futile; which can be roughly defined as serving no useful purpose; for example:

Nobel Prize winner, author of several best-selling books, and recipient of at least a
dozen honorary degrees, physicist Steven Weinberg (who views religion as an
enemy of science), in his book "The First Three Minutes" wrote: The more the
universe seems comprehensible, the more it seems pointless. But if there is no
solace in the fruits of our research, there is at least some consolation in the
research itself . . . the effort to understand the universe is one of the very few
things that lifts human life a little above the level of a farce and gives it some of the
grace of tragedy.

What a dismal appraisal. In Mr. Weinberg's opinion, the human experience scarce
escapes the categories of farce and tragedy; its quest for knowledge seems the
only thing that gives humanity any excuse to exist at all. The universe? It's just a
meaningless void decorated with fascinating objects --a carnival side show of
cosmic curiosities, so to speak.

Wouldn't it be sad if we only lived and died like insects and fungi? I mean, what
would be the point of it all? They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste. What real
advantage is it to have something so useful as a human mind if it's only going to
die and stop working after many years of learning and experience? And what real
advantage is it for the mind of the present to make the world a better place for the
next generation of minds if the mind of the present doesn't live to see it? That's
really no more significant an existence than that of the individuals in a bee hive or a
termite colony.

● Ecc 12:9-10 . . A further word: Because Koheleth was a sage, he continued to
instruct the people. He listened to and tested the soundness of many maxims.
Koheleth sought to discover useful sayings and recorded genuinely truthful sayings.

Solomon's argument smacks of circular reasoning in that he regards his own
personal philosophy as "genuinely truthful sayings" while any and all second
opinions are misinformation solely because he honestly believes himself incapable
of error. That's hardly a novel attitude. Many bright people are deeply offended
when those of lesser IQ reject their (sage) opinions. However, we're inclined to give
Solomon the benefit of the doubt and go along with his self-evaluation because we
are, after all, Bible students who, for the most part, don't know any better anyway.
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 12:11a . .The words of wise men are like goads,

Goads were used by mule skinners and such who drive oxen and/or horses to pull
plows and wagons. The device is a bit like the pointed tool that workers use to pick
up trash along roadways: a long stick whittled to a sharp point at one end. A fancy
goad might include an ornate metal prod at one end. When the skinners want an ox
to get moving, they just poke its rump.

Anyway; wise people are difficult to oppose without coming across as obtuse
because everything they say makes sense to those of us with a lesser IQ. Even
when the wise are wrong they sound right so there's nothing to gain by matching
wits with them. they'll just keep sticking it to you.

● Ecc 12:11b . . and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails;

The word for "nails" is from masmerah (mas-mer-aw') which actually isn't a nail but
a peg. Ecclesiastes is the only place in the entire Old Testament where masmerah is
located. Small pegs can be used to build furniture. Large ones can be used as fence
posts; and other sizes can be used to hold a tent in place. A husky peg on a tug
boat can be used as a tow bit. So peg has lots of meanings and one that we can
easily apply in this passage is that the person who takes the words of the wise
seriously, supposedly becomes a solid, stable individual.

● Ecc 12:11c . .they are given by one shepherd.

If you asked twenty people to draw a crooked line; you would get twenty dissimilar
lines. Wisdom is like a straight line. If you asked those same twenty people to draw
a straight line, all twenty lines would look the same. They might have different
lengths, and they might be of different thickness, but they would all conform to the
well known geometric axiom that a straight line is the shortest distance between
two points.

Straight lines don't zig nor zag nor kink nor sag nor bow nor bend like a crooked
line. All straight lines look the same because straight lines go in only one direction;
viz: the words of the wise must be consistent if they're to be taken seriously. A
wishy-washy philosopher is just a blow-hard.

● Ecc 12:12 . . But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is
endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.

Back then I'd imagine that prolific authors wore themselves out what with no
machines like typewriters to work with. In our day, writing is a snap with
computerized word processing.

"My son" doesn't necessarily refer to Koheleth's kin; but can also refer to his
students. The teacher then, is the student's father, in an academic sort of way.
There's a number of incidents in the Old Testament where Bible students are called
sons of the prophets. Compare 2Kings 2:12 where Elijah's apprentice Elisha, called
his master "my father". (cf. 2Tim 2:1)

● Ecc 12:13a . .The sum of the matter, when all is said and done:

Solomon has discussed how life is out of balance; viz: its unjust and unfair; cruel
and punctuated with misery-- youth is temporary, happiness is fragile, joy is
fleeting, and entertainment provides only momentary relief.

Life traps us in circumstances beyond our control and we're often dominated by
unscrupulous people. Life is pointless, much too brief, and everyone, both the good,
the bad, and the ugly, are faced with old age and the inevitability of death. So . .
since that is our situation; what is the use of life anyway? If life is such a dead-end,
a pointless pursuit, then why should we take it seriously; if at all?
_

 

[Odë:hgöd]

.
● Ecc 12:13b-14 . . Revere God and observe His commandments! For this applies to
all mankind: that God will call every creature to account for everything unknown,
be it good or bad.

Wouldn't it be sad if we only lived and died like insects and fungi? I mean, what
would be the point of it all? What real advantage is it to have a beautiful mind if it's
only going to die and stop working after many years of learning and experience?
And what real value is it to the minds of the present to make the world a better
place for the next generation of minds if the minds of the present don't live to see
it?

By believing in a supreme being, your life means something after all. It counts in
some way when there is a God; and it gives people a hope for the future after
they're destroyed by old age and death. Wouldn't it be far better to perceive
yourself part of a grand scheme instead of walking across the stage of your all too
brief life as an insignificant speck in a pointless cosmos?

The Bible's God has another Genesis in the works for mankind. Yes, a whole new
earth and a whole new universe minus all the negative aspects of the current one.

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be
remembered, nor come into mind." (Isa 65:17-25)

"According to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in
which righteousness dwells." (2 Pet 3:13)

"I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth
passed away" (Rev 21:1-6)

As my wife and I decline and wax older and older, we feel sadness for the loss of
our youth. There was a time when we were both bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and
could get by with very little rest. The skin on our face, and under our chin, was
tight, and our middles were lean and defined. Today we're sag-bottomed and
flaccid.

The great cowboy artist Charles Russell once commented that time traded him
wrinkles for teeth. Me too. I've lost teeth, some are capped, and my gums have
receded. The teeth that remain have become so brittle that I have to be careful
when eating my favorite hard candies.

Believing that there is a supreme being, and a future world, lifts our spirits and
strengthens us to cope with aging and the onset of death. We have promise of a
great, eternal future out ahead in a world where youth is the norm, and no one dies
or gets sick.

Even if we are totally wrong in our belief, my wife and I are far better off than "the
man under the sun" who has resigned himself to futility; to live out his pointless
existence with no more importance than an alley cat or a feral dog; to die and be
recycled back into the matrix from whence he came; the meanwhile suppressing a
gnawing anxiety in the back of his mind that there just might be an afterlife after
all.

-- The End --