Ecclesiastes Reflection One
"There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow." Ecclesiastes 1:11
I've been one of those people who always struggled to do devotions. I've always tried to read through the bible (which I have done several times) during devotions, but for devotional purposes I am rarely successful. So I've decided to take to heart a lesson taught to me by my college theology professor. That is instead of spreading yourself thin in devotions concentrate on one book of the bible so that you can make research, and devotional advancement for other people. Basically so you can make your mark on biblical scholarship. Now that is not the reason I decided to do this. I decided to do intentional in depth study of one book for my personal development, hence I choose Ecclesiastes my favorite book of the Bible. For my first reflection on Ecc. I was struck by this verse in chapter one for several reasons. For one its a direct contradiction to the reason my theology professor suggested in depth biblical studies. But also because I am a fan of John Lennon. Most atheist I have heard or read of believe that the best we can hope for after we die is that people will remember us, remember our works. The eleventh verse of chapter one in Ecc. points out the futility in relying on people to remember your works. We as humanity have a tremendous ability to forget where we've been and who or what exactly got us where. Most of the historical figures in the deep past are lucky they are remembered, and yes it is in fact luck that their works weren't burned up, or their memory erase (not for lack of trying) by the next group of winners. Remembrance is not all its cut out to be, looking forward in salvation history it is only by the love of Christ that we are able to have comfort for our future. When all of humanity forgets us, God still remembers.
I've been one of those people who always struggled to do devotions. I've always tried to read through the bible (which I have done several times) during devotions, but for devotional purposes I am rarely successful. So I've decided to take to heart a lesson taught to me by my college theology professor. That is instead of spreading yourself thin in devotions concentrate on one book of the bible so that you can make research, and devotional advancement for other people. Basically so you can make your mark on biblical scholarship. Now that is not the reason I decided to do this. I decided to do intentional in depth study of one book for my personal development, hence I choose Ecclesiastes my favorite book of the Bible. For my first reflection on Ecc. I was struck by this verse in chapter one for several reasons. For one its a direct contradiction to the reason my theology professor suggested in depth biblical studies. But also because I am a fan of John Lennon. Most atheist I have heard or read of believe that the best we can hope for after we die is that people will remember us, remember our works. The eleventh verse of chapter one in Ecc. points out the futility in relying on people to remember your works. We as humanity have a tremendous ability to forget where we've been and who or what exactly got us where. Most of the historical figures in the deep past are lucky they are remembered, and yes it is in fact luck that their works weren't burned up, or their memory erase (not for lack of trying) by the next group of winners. Remembrance is not all its cut out to be, looking forward in salvation history it is only by the love of Christ that we are able to have comfort for our future. When all of humanity forgets us, God still remembers.
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Funny, I was just reading something by J. Ellsworth Kalas about how poorly he thinks of Ecclesiastes... or more accurately how poorly he thinks of Qoheleth. He called him something like a grown up spoiled teenage brat. I don't get it...