The wisdom books are intended for reflective and conversational reading. They are meant to be analyzed, discussed, and debated. They are not to be read in the same way you would read the historical portions of Scripture (which, of course, are always written from a faith perspective). Keep in mind: the rabbis taught that new meanings were to be discovered in Scripture for the current time in which it was being read. Their regard for the text is the same as mine: Scriptures are always deeper, richer, and more far-reaching than our current interpretations are able to deliver. In my re-reading of the Bible, I never cease to be amazed at how many new things I discover. It is the same text that has always been there, but I am not the same person I was at earlier readings.
Musings from Hither and Yon.
It does make sense after all.
In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long on their wickedness. Do not be over-righteous, neither be over-wise — why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool — why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes. (Ecclesiastes 7:15-18).
Before you dismiss this idea, I ask if you can see any of this kind of moderation in the life and teaching of Jesus? The Pharisees were the super-righteous of their day and in their extremism missed the mercy and compassion that Jesus insisted were more important aspects of faith. It may be a little more difficult to mine the biblical wisdom in Ecclesiastes, but we should never lose sight of this: it is a part of Holy Scripture and it needs to be taken into account to receive a proper balance in our theology.
My broad readings often include a New York Times Bestseller simply because I want to be in touch with what a significant segment of the population is reading. One of those of a few years ago was The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer. My confession: I bought the book because of the subtitle: The journey beyond yourself. This is a large part of Jesus’ teaching, and we have always had a difficult time incorporating it into a healthy spirituality.
Here is an excerpt from Singer’s book in a chapter titled “The Secret of the Middle Way”:
No discussion of living life as a spiritual path is complete without addressing one of the deepest of all spiritual teachings, the Tao te Ching. It discusses that which is very difficult to discuss, that which is called “the Tao” (pronounced: dow). Literally translated, this means “the Way.”16
Those are the two extremes of the pendulum: the yin and the yang, expansion and contraction, non-doing and doing. Everything has two extremes. Everything has graduations of this pendulum swing. If you go to the extremes, you cannot survive.17
It’s not a teaching that is a mainstay of our culture.
Wendell Berry: “Don’t own so much clutter that you will be relieved to see your house catch fire.”18
This subject is so serious that I felt we needed to begin with a little comic relief to lighten the load. One of Jesus’ clear teachings is that a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions that can be accumulated. Warnings against depending on “stuff” to bring satisfaction and happiness shouldn’t need any further proof than the testimonies of those for whom they have produced a meaningless life - like the Teacher of Ecclesiastes:
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
And this was the reward for all my toil.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun (2:10-11).
Jesus never denigrated the wise use of possessions; many of his followers were people who were considered wealthy. Jesus taught never to equate bigger barns with bigger lives or with meaning and purpose. Our lives cannot be measured by the abundance of our possessions. I’ll leave this hot potato for you to consult the Gospels for further enlightenment.
We Are Just Passing Through.
There is an old gospel song with the line: “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.” The biblical description of who we are is repeatedly described as “pilgrim.” A recurring theme in Ecclesiastes is that not much really matters because, after all, we all end up in the grave. That is the darkest theme in the book and it only tells a portion of the story — but it is a portion we ignore at our peril. We often fail to see life as gift and our brief journey here as a time to make the most of every hour that is offered to us.
And there is another thing to learn from this brevity:
Why should anything that anyone says or does cause you to get disturbed? You’re just on a planet spinning around the middle of absolutely nowhere. You came here to visit for a handful of years and then you’re going to leave. How can you live all stressed-out over everything? Don’t do it.19
Brevity does not equal meaninglessness in the context of faith. We will address this issue more fully in the Conclusion, “Is This As Good As It Gets?”
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
1 Have you spent much time reading Ecclesiastes or the other Wisdom books? Why do you think this is so?
2 Do you believe in living the middle way?
3 What have you found that brings satisfaction, meaning, and a sense of purpose?
14 James Limburg, Encountering Ecclesiastes: A Book for Our Time (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2008), 18.
15 Ibid.
16 Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul (Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 2007), 165.
17 Ibid, 166.
18 Donald Altman, Clearing Emotional Clutter (New York: MJF Books, 2016), 1.
19 Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul, 135.
Chapter 3:
School Is
Never Out
There is a better word than “disciple.”
In a recent translation of the Gospels, I have found it most instructive that the Greek word usually rendered disciples now reads students: And Jesus said to his students. Too many current ideas about being Christian have to do with certain things that one believes. I concur that the Christian faith has content, but it is easy to forget that the earliest Christians were called “Followers of the Way.” They believed that Jesus was the long-awaited Christ (Messiah) and confessed him as savior but that was only the beginning. That was step one. It was not Christianity full-blown.
It is unfortunate that one particular way to translate key verses in John 3 has tended to make conversion into a package transaction with the resultant, “Well, now I’ve done that.”