Home
>
Spirituality
>
How Shall We Then Live?

How Shall We Then Live?

Qohelet had grown old with time when he delivered his Ecclesiastes and it has since become part of the wisdom literature of the Bible. And it is because of his many years of experience that he adopted the doctrine that all is meaningless, utterly meaningless.

If you were to read Ecclesiastes for the first time, you would probably consider it a rather anomalous account of a man's thoughts to be found in the Bible. We are disturbed by its lack of literary unity as well as Qohelet's strange sayings. It does not contain the kind of upbeat, positive message that we want to hear. He dares to suggest that we should cry at birth and rejoice in death. After all, the things of this world are full of weariness and vexation of heart.

Ecclesiastes reads as a kind of penitential sermon in which the preacher sadly laments his own foolishness in promising himself satisfaction in the things of this world which he found to be more bitter than death. He questions the purpose of human existence and asks, What gives lasting meaning to life? If everyone only dies in the end, what is the meaningful difference between the righteousness and unrighteousness, between right and wrong? The seriousness in which Qohelet probes this basic human issue makes it one of the most compelling pieces of Biblical literature.

Qohelet had taken in too many of the hard, relentless facts of human existence and he had too little faith with which to digest them. He tests pleasure and the amassing of wealth. He reappraises wisdom. He discovers that wisdom increases pain, pleasure is ephemeral and passing, and that hard earned wealth inevitably is left to someone else, who has not labored for it.

The preacher then turns from the personal to the collective experience. He looks for justice among men and finds none. The powerful and the officials oppress the weak and the poor. He sees the just suffer and the unjust prosper. The end of man is death. It seems that the wise, the foolish, and even the animals all meet a common end. Permeating the entire book of Ecclesiastes is a sober realism of life "under the sun." It is not a pretty picture.

And so we may as well realize that as Christians, we are both secular and sacred and they are constantly fighting against one another. It is not so much a conflict between men as it is a conflict within all men. We need to be careful not to boast too fanatically about being religious because we are also irreligious. We do not need to become big-headed about our piety, because in the midst of our so-called saintliness, we are also impious and ungodly. We like to think we are "in the world but not of it." That is fine. But the fact remains that we are in it. As a consequence of being in it we absorb a little from it. Therefore, it is worth acknowledging that, like Qohelet, we too are partially secular and partially sacred and there is no peaceful co- existence.

If there is any book in the Bible that stands close to 21st century man, it is Ecclesiastes. It is a book for all times because it depicts man's honest search for meaning and purpose in life. Ecclesiastes, both pragmatically as well as analytically, approaches the real issues of life; its doubts and its questions and its absurdities. It expresses skepticism, pessimism, and determination as well as a profound faith. It is one of the relatively rare books in which stubborn human honesty, often quenched by respectable pretensions, speaks its mind. It says in so many words what all of us at some stage or crisis in our lives have clandestinely debated. What is the meaning of it all? Ecclesiastes meets us in our honest confusion between faith and doubt. Our doubts haunts us as much as our faith inspires us.

I see this ancient realist not as the "melancholy man" but as a man of the world. Qohelet is a man who has studied the human condition. A man who has observed what happens to human beings while they are alive and witnessed the common fate that comes to all: "all go unto one place; all are of the dust and all turn to dust again." His conclusion therefore is not a prescription for despair. Rather, it is a strong encouragement for our asking ourselves that all important, but often suppressed question: How shall we then live?

Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, veteran social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach which can be reviewed on her site. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, is expected to be available soon.

You are welcome to visit amen ministries: your soul's service station for spiritual refreshing, soul edification, browse our newly expanded mini shopping mall or review our recommended books you may want to add to your personal library.

Blessings to all!

expert residential cleaners Park Ridge ..

In The News:

The Omoway Omo X features a modular design, obstacle detection and emergency braking, and can drive itself to charging stations, signaling the future of smart urban mobility.

PillTrek, a tiny wireless smart capsule created by Caltech, provides real-time gut health data by detecting electrolytes, metabolites, glucose, hormones, pH levels and temperature.

Learn to spot fake bank text messages with five warning signs of Chase phishing scams, including suspicious links and urgent deadlines designed to steal your account information.

Robot coyotes built on motorized cars reaching 20 mph are being deployed at military airfields as an innovative solution to wildlife threats to aircraft safety.

Explore Google Drive's strengths and weaknesses as a backup solution, including its encryption security, privacy concerns and comparison to dedicated backup tools.

As environmental challenges grow, underwater habitats gain momentum with DEEP's Vanguard, supporting short missions and Sentinel designed for 28-day stays at depth.

The new Urban Eyes safety vest features dual cameras, reflective panels and a wireless remote to deter harassers and provide peace of mind for outdoor workouts.

The $200 billion data broker industry tracks your personal details across websites, posing privacy risks that can be mitigated through data removal services.

UCC Holding has teamed up with COBOD to create desert-inspired, 3D-printed schools in Qatar, featuring dune-like wavy walls impossible with conventional construction.

Darkling beetles equipped with microchip backpacks can be guided through disaster areas using electrical signals, offering a biological solution for search and rescue.

Scammers use number porting to take control of outdated landlines still connected to financial accounts, bypassing two-factor authentication to steal funds while avoiding detection.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey developed Bitchat, a privacy-focused messaging app that works offline via Bluetooth without requiring email, phone numbers or personal data.

Google is making a push to ensure its AI, Gemini, is tightly integrated with Android systems by granting it access to core apps like WhatsApp, Messages, and Phone.

A new green energy system is set to change how we capture clean power, and it all starts with the ocean. French startup Seaturns has designed technology that taps into the natural motion of the sea.

Cybersecurity researchers are warning that hackers have started exploiting flaws in chatbots to carry out AI phishing attacks.

Google has just made it easier than ever to regain control of your inbox with Gmail's new Manage Subscriptions tool.

Despite the benefits, residential power saver programs come with several potential drawbacks and concerns that have been raised by both customers and experts.

The Blackdot AI tattoo machine is quiet. It's steady. And according to early users, it hurts a lot less.

Attackers have started to exploit the very signals that users assume will keep them safe when it comes to add-ons to improve productivity or entertainment.

Located on Cerro Pachón in Chile, the world's most powerful digital camera is set to transform how we see the universe.

The innovative DQ Tower stands 28 feet tall with 420 square feet of living space, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows and premium amenities in a prefabricated design.

A new mmWave imaging system allows warehouse robots to scan and create 3D models of objects inside sealed containers, potentially revolutionizing shipping processes.

Family fraud endangers seniors when relatives exploit their trust, but removing personal data online and monitoring identity can prevent financial harm to aging parents.

A study analyzing 500,000 customer service interactions shows chatbots struggle with complex issues while human agents excel at matching customer communication styles.

Aigen's Element robot uses solar power and AI to provide farmers with a sustainable alternative to herbicides, working efficiently in cotton and soy fields.

How Shall We Then Live?

Spirituality