Kontakion

Closing Reflection: My first United Methodist pastor would end every bible study, Sunday school even confirmation class with, “So what?” This is our “so what” time. How do we reconcile the themes that Qoheleth writes about with our Christian faith? And what difference does taking these themes into account make in our lives? I believe the primary binding theme in the book of Ecclesiastes is that we can discern little about our world and our lives, therefore we are to enjoy life because life is a gift from God. “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die,” could be the claim that Ecclesiastes is boiled down to. That idea alone is clearly rejected by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians. The church has always rejected the idea that we are created to satisfy only our physical needs and desires. As Christians we do believe that this life isn’t all there is; we believe that when we die we are with Christ for all eternity. This belief is beyond Qoheleth, and not referred to within the bo...

Central Verse: “Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vain. Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them.” Eccl. 11:10-12:1 Central Truth: As Qoheleth brings the book to a close in 12:8, he does some summation of his entire work. Qoheleth brings us to a conclusion that is no surprise considering the general tenor of the book. He recommends banishing anxiety from our bodies by enjoying the life that we have. Yet he quickly tempers this idea, reminding us to remember our creator. How do we balance these two items. As with most things in this book, they seem contradictory; to engage in both would seem self-defeating. However, using Qoheleth as our guide, we can see that we need to enjoy life, because it is God who gives us the ability to enjoy it. God created the world as good, yet it is humanity that insists t...

Central Verse: “Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do. Let your garments always be white; do not let oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that are given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is not work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.” Eccl. 9:7-10 Central Truth: Repeatedly in the book of Ecclesiastes Qoheleth reminds us to eat, drink, and enjoy life. Qoheleth is fairly clear that the enjoyment of life as such is a gift of God, for example in 6:2b, “Yet God does not enable them to enjoy these things, but a stranger enjoys them.” A new and final component to this book is, “For God has long ago approved what you do.” This is not a divine stamp of approval on every aspect of hum...

Central Verse: “There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people who are treated according to the conduct of the wicked, and there are wicked people who are treated according to the conduct of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God has given them under the sun.” Eccl 8:14-15 Central Truth: Our lives are plagued by the question, “Why do the evil prosper?” In these two chapters, Qoheleth does his typical dance through such a weighty theme. He questions where true wisdom originates, whether it is in the house of laughter or the house of mourning. Then in verse 14 of chapter 7, he seems to allude to the idea that God is the author of all the bad things that happen in our lives. Qoheleth moves onto the topic of the righteous versus the wicked and reach...

Friendship, Reverence, and Money; 4:9-6:12 Central Verse: “For it they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help…A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:10-12 Central Truth: Within the section of verses we hear one of the most popular expressions in weddings, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” The concept that Qoheleth is bringing forward is not a defense of marriage; even though it is applicable, it is based on the reality of life in ancient times. For instance, the wilderness is a dangerous place; in fact, it still is today and going out in numbers is still the best safety net for camping and any wilderness adventure. It is actually basic science that a threefold cord is stronger. When I go camping, one of the items that I never go without is rope. If I have my choice of any rope I can take, I take para-cord. Para-cord contains 4-7 separate very strong strands, and is good for almost every...

Animals, Justice, and Work: 3:16-4:8 Theme Verse: “I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals. For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity.” Eccl 3:18-19 Central Truth: Qoheleth launches into various streams of thought, literary sound bites, in the next several chapters. Each sound bite has its own story to tell, and in some way its own independent theme. In verses 16-22, Qoheleth decides to talk about the animals. Until the last hundred years humanity has been confident in showing how we as humans are different from the animals. In the past century there has been a lot of discussion on the subject of man and animals, particularly around Darwinian evolution and the idea that humanity descended from apes. Having been a part of many of those discussions my self, I have often ...

Central Verse: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” Eccl 3:1 Central Truth: This section of the book of Ecclesiastes contains one of the most well known verses in scripture in part due to the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds. There is a way of seasonal living that is contained within rural living. Unfortunately not many people live in the countryside now, the majority of our populations live in the cities, in some ways this makes it difficult for us to identify with a seasonal attitude which is partly expressed here in this passage. In my childhood when I was growing up in the country I was very aware of the change of the seasons. My family was only one generation off the farm, my grandfather’s farm was less than a quarter mile away and my brothers and I often went and helped on the farm. During the fall we were harvesting corn for feed, in the winter taking care of the cows, spring was planting and preparing the field, and summer...

Why Study Ecclesiastes: I’ve often been asked “why do you like Ecclesiastes?” Ecclesiastes has been known as a pessimistic and depressing book in fact most Christians I’ve met avoid this book like the plague. In our society, and unfortunately in the church, people tend to avoid anything that makes them uncomfortable particularly if what is being expressed could be seen as depressing. However we live in an age that is flooded with depression and people struggling with their place in the world today. People are disconnected from each other and disconnected with God in a way that would have been unbelievable to the author of Ecclesiastes. The first time I remember reading the book of Ecclesiastes was when I was in college. I had gotten back to my room from a long day at classes and was just starting to think about sitting down and studying when I got a phone call. My dad called me and informed me that aunt Roma had died that day. Aunt Roma wasn’t actually my aunt. I grew up in ...

Ecclesiastes 11:5 5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. I love technology. I love getting the newest forms of technology (when I have the money), I even Love playing with new technology in stores if I can’t afford it. The thing about technology is it is almost always about controlling something. For example, a smart phone (which no, I don’t have one) is equipped with software to sync your colander, contacts, music, and email. A smart phone’s purpose is to help you control your calendar, as well as your various entertainments. Control is something we tend to try and exert over most areas in our lives, this verse from Ecclesiastes reminds us that ultimately we aren’t in control. I am not going to make the argument about how much God controls or even how much we as humans can know, but there is something to the idea of realizing that we can’t know, we c...

Ecclesiastes 10:10 10 If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success.” Wisdom sharpens you. That’s the basic message of this verse. I’ve often thought about this, especially in the last several weeks. My personality is one that I am quick to respond and I feel often because of that I don’t feel as sharp as I should be. I have been praying and seeking to be more “quiet” in response to people and situations, I’ve been seeking to keep my ax sharp so that when I reply it is with thought and decision. Another aspect of this verse for me is how wisdom is acquired. A few weeks ago I expressed to a friend my frustration with church recently. I have never been one to read just church books, by this I mean church leadership, worship, or history. I’ve always been very eclectic in my reading selection mixing in a fair amount of classic literature, fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. Lately I have struggled to do that. ...

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 "7 Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works. 8 Let your garments always be white, And let your head lack no oil. 9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going." This section of verses in my opinion is the consummate summation of the entire book of Ecclesiastes. There are a lot of lessons just in this small section of verses that I feel that I and we as a nation need and should learn. Now anyone who reads what I occasionally write on this blog will realize that I am not a fan of saying things that apply to our nation, I have a tendency to focus on the individual and...

Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 NIV "13 Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? 14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future. " I take these verses to be a reminder to all of us about the reality of life. From what I've seen its always easy for people to praise God when things are going well, the problem is when things are difficult. The bad times are the moments when we refuse to acknowledge both our part and Gods part of the bad times. In the words of the teacher here God does have a part in the bad times. Something I'm going to have to think about is the part of God in the good and bad within Ecclesiastes. At the moment I think with this passage maybe the most important part of it is the first part of the verse, "who can straighten what he has made crooked?" Sometimes we need to leave things, leave situ...

Ecclesiastes 6:11 NRSV “The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?” First off I apologized to anyone who was reading my devotional posts on Ecclesiastes, I admit for the last couple of months I got out of the habit so I hope I’m back on the ball now. Except of course I’m going on vacation next week. This verse really jumped out at me when I read chapter six. All the commentaries I’ve read so far haven’t given much attention to this particular verse. It’s been all about how the Teacher still sees life as pointless and the wise no better off then the foolish. While this is true, this particular verse spoke to me as a Pastor. The danger in being a pastor is we like to talk, we pile our words upon each other. Generally we do it to convince people of something or to paint a verbal picture, but I doubt many of us have tried the less is better option. I hope and pray that I will know when to say little and when to say much.

Ecclesiastes 4:4-6 4 And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 5 The fool folds his hands and ruins himself. 6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. Its taken me now almost three weeks to write anything on this chapter in Ecclesiastes. I’ve been busy. With Lent going on and Easter now just over the horizon I have found less and less time to do things like visitation, and meditation. When I sat down this morning to look at one of the verses in chapter four that I had underlined I hit upon these verses. This is a great reminder in times of running around that sometimes we are better off stopping and making ourselves relax. It is difficult to do, and in fact sometimes it seems down right contradictory to getting more done. But it is a necessary part of our life. I think the Teacher in Ecclesiastes knew this well and maybe that wa...

Ecclesiastes 3:11 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. This verse contains an important lesson for someone like me. I’m one of those individuals who need to plan things out. Even if I know the event won’t happen like that or that the plans will change I still need to plan things out. I long to have the answer of what will happen before me, I long for stability, I long for that sense of eternity. I’m not saying I long for death I don’t think that is what the Teacher had in mind here in this verse; I think its Gods plan. But there is reality, I don’t know, I can’t know what is going on, it’s just not possible. Even if I take the book of Revelation literally this verse makes it clear that there is no way for us to understand what is going to happen neither in our life time nor in the life span of the world. I believe that this lesson is part of good Christian...

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? This is one of the passages in Ecclesiastes that is quoted by a lot of different biblical figures, including Jesus. Everyone who quotes it has a dislike of the statement. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes is the only one who offers an alternative. Enjoy life! This is a message not expressed enough in the church or by well meaning Christians. The facts are we don’t know anything about what happens when a person dies. We have faith that there is a bodily resurrection and that we spend eternity in Christ’s presence. That being said we need a healthy dose of what the Teacher has to say. Eat and drink, enjoy life because in the end this maybe all we have. The Teacher sees this as a gift of God, when you realize that you need to actually enjoy life, I would add while holding on to your o...

"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 it...