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16 April 2007
Ecclesiastes 1:1-7
These are the words of the Teacher, a son of David, king in Jerusalem. The Teacher says, "Useless! Useless! Completely useless! Everything is useless."
What do people really gain from all the hard work they do here on earth?
People live, and people die, but the earth continues forever.
The sun rises, the sun sets, and then it hurries back to where it rises again.
The wind blows to the south; it blows to the north. It blows from one direction and then another. Then it turns around and repeats the same pattern, going nowhere.
All the rivers flow to the sea, but the sea never becomes full.
Do you have a favourite teacher? What was it about them that made them your favourite? Now imagine how you would have felt if a new teacher walked into the classroom and after no more than the briefest introduction launched into "Useless! Useless! Completely useless! Everything is useless!" Would you have found this outburst unnerving, shocking, exciting or ...? Would you think them a good mentor or a potential tormentor?
Ecclesiastes is an unusual and controversial book, quite unlike any other in the Bible. It is a book full of ambiguities and uncertainties which can be read in two quite opposing ways: "as a book full of joy, with overtones of realism, and as a book of scepticism despite hints of joy" as one commentator notes (D. Ingram, 'Ecclesiastes', Grove 2004). Communication is a two way process and any written communication involves both the reader and the author.
How you hear the message of Ecclesiastes will depend, in part, on whether you are a half-full or a half-empty sort of a person! But the writer has also skilfully used his art in such a way to allow for these two different views to be held - at the same time! The post-modern world seems very aware of the ambiguous nature of life and is reluctant to accept neat answers, so Ecclesiastes seems very contemporary and relevant.
In today's reading we are challenged to think about what we gain from all the hard work we do. Do we work to live or live to work or . . .? Does what we fill our days with make any difference to our own lives or the lives of others? And is that a positive difference? Spend time today looking back over the past week. How did you fill your time? What's your verdict? Useful or useless?
Lord God, I pray that my life would count for something in this world. That by the way I treat people and care for the world in which I live I would make a positive difference. Thank you that I don't need to be someone important or powerful to make this happen. Thank you that with Your Spirit, Your guidance and Your empowering even the apparently small things in life have significance. Please breathe Your life and love into all that I do this day, and everyday, that I may grow closer to You and others see You in my life. Amen
Written by Christine Gore.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-7
These are the words of the Teacher, a son of David, king in Jerusalem. The Teacher says, "Useless! Useless! Completely useless! Everything is useless."
What do people really gain from all the hard work they do here on earth?
People live, and people die, but the earth continues forever.
The sun rises, the sun sets, and then it hurries back to where it rises again.
The wind blows to the south; it blows to the north. It blows from one direction and then another. Then it turns around and repeats the same pattern, going nowhere.
All the rivers flow to the sea, but the sea never becomes full.
Do you have a favourite teacher? What was it about them that made them your favourite? Now imagine how you would have felt if a new teacher walked into the classroom and after no more than the briefest introduction launched into "Useless! Useless! Completely useless! Everything is useless!" Would you have found this outburst unnerving, shocking, exciting or ...? Would you think them a good mentor or a potential tormentor?
Ecclesiastes is an unusual and controversial book, quite unlike any other in the Bible. It is a book full of ambiguities and uncertainties which can be read in two quite opposing ways: "as a book full of joy, with overtones of realism, and as a book of scepticism despite hints of joy" as one commentator notes (D. Ingram, 'Ecclesiastes', Grove 2004). Communication is a two way process and any written communication involves both the reader and the author.
How you hear the message of Ecclesiastes will depend, in part, on whether you are a half-full or a half-empty sort of a person! But the writer has also skilfully used his art in such a way to allow for these two different views to be held - at the same time! The post-modern world seems very aware of the ambiguous nature of life and is reluctant to accept neat answers, so Ecclesiastes seems very contemporary and relevant.
In today's reading we are challenged to think about what we gain from all the hard work we do. Do we work to live or live to work or . . .? Does what we fill our days with make any difference to our own lives or the lives of others? And is that a positive difference? Spend time today looking back over the past week. How did you fill your time? What's your verdict? Useful or useless?
Lord God, I pray that my life would count for something in this world. That by the way I treat people and care for the world in which I live I would make a positive difference. Thank you that I don't need to be someone important or powerful to make this happen. Thank you that with Your Spirit, Your guidance and Your empowering even the apparently small things in life have significance. Please breathe Your life and love into all that I do this day, and everyday, that I may grow closer to You and others see You in my life. Amen
Written by Christine Gore.
