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Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
The reading this morning reminds me of a quote from Heraclitus that says: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man”. I feel like this is almost saying a similar thing to what is being said in today’s reading Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, except that Heraclitus had a positive spin on his comment.
The teacher is commenting on the brevity of life, how the world doesn’t care that we are here, that time passes and life moves on and that our interaction with the world, our impression on the world, doesn’t seem to make a lasting impact. It is a sobering thought for sure.
I am not going to read everything ever day, but for the sake of setting the tone for this book that we are reading, I am going to read these 11 verses because these really set the tone and the stage for all that is to come - it is kind of a primer for the book as a whole.
Now, one thing that is hugely important for us to remember as we are reading this probably 2000-2500-ish years after it was completed, is that the arrival, life, and resurrection of Jesus adds something to the story that the teacher and this author didn’t have to draw from. So we have to keep this in mind.
That said, I have two thoughts from today’s reading:
1. Back to the Heraclitus quote - the world moves on, time passes, the sun rises and the sun sets, and we may not be remembered on this earth, but the positive to that is that every day that we wake up and have breath in our lungs, we are experiencing a world that has never been and will be the same. We can choose to see that as a good thing, and we can learn to enjoy the moment, the here-and-now. That is something I have struggled to do for so long and am working hard to do with these 10 minutes of silence and sitting in the a.m., and with my daily 10 minute mindful meditation. Life is too precious just to pass it by.
2. Jesus changed so much of the seeming hopelessness of this book. Granted, the author will resolve some of this tension of hopelessness in the end by drawing us back to the importance of uniting with God and trusting in God, but Jesus gives us the chance to have a reunion with God. Jesus gives us a promise that what we do here is a part of God’s plan, and that God will use our work and the work of everyone to weave together a story for all of humanity. He alludes to the idea that we’ll one day be able to see how all of that comes together when we are in Heaven with God. That’s a HUGE advantage to us in reading this now, in 2021, with hindsight on our side.
It just makes me, as I often feel when reading the Old Testament, so thankful to live on this side of the resurrection. I am blessed in that way for sure!
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By Steve AndersonThe reading this morning reminds me of a quote from Heraclitus that says: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man”. I feel like this is almost saying a similar thing to what is being said in today’s reading Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, except that Heraclitus had a positive spin on his comment.
The teacher is commenting on the brevity of life, how the world doesn’t care that we are here, that time passes and life moves on and that our interaction with the world, our impression on the world, doesn’t seem to make a lasting impact. It is a sobering thought for sure.
I am not going to read everything ever day, but for the sake of setting the tone for this book that we are reading, I am going to read these 11 verses because these really set the tone and the stage for all that is to come - it is kind of a primer for the book as a whole.
Now, one thing that is hugely important for us to remember as we are reading this probably 2000-2500-ish years after it was completed, is that the arrival, life, and resurrection of Jesus adds something to the story that the teacher and this author didn’t have to draw from. So we have to keep this in mind.
That said, I have two thoughts from today’s reading:
1. Back to the Heraclitus quote - the world moves on, time passes, the sun rises and the sun sets, and we may not be remembered on this earth, but the positive to that is that every day that we wake up and have breath in our lungs, we are experiencing a world that has never been and will be the same. We can choose to see that as a good thing, and we can learn to enjoy the moment, the here-and-now. That is something I have struggled to do for so long and am working hard to do with these 10 minutes of silence and sitting in the a.m., and with my daily 10 minute mindful meditation. Life is too precious just to pass it by.
2. Jesus changed so much of the seeming hopelessness of this book. Granted, the author will resolve some of this tension of hopelessness in the end by drawing us back to the importance of uniting with God and trusting in God, but Jesus gives us the chance to have a reunion with God. Jesus gives us a promise that what we do here is a part of God’s plan, and that God will use our work and the work of everyone to weave together a story for all of humanity. He alludes to the idea that we’ll one day be able to see how all of that comes together when we are in Heaven with God. That’s a HUGE advantage to us in reading this now, in 2021, with hindsight on our side.
It just makes me, as I often feel when reading the Old Testament, so thankful to live on this side of the resurrection. I am blessed in that way for sure!