Islands of Well Being

Ecclesiastes Chapter Three

Again, 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 fleeting. All end up in the same place; all are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?

                So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?  It is God's gift to us that we should eat and drink and take pleasure in all our toil. (Ecclesiastes 3:13,18-22)

Last night, at “Dinner and a Question” held in Inklings Coffee & Tea, we concluded our discussions on Ecclesiastes chapter three. Good chance the top part of chapter three is familiar: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die…” (3:1-2). It was a hit tune when I was Abby’s age. It’s the bottom part of chapter three that comes as a surprise: “God is testing us to show that we are but animals” (3:16). How odd is that? Can that be true?

That’s the thing about Ecclesiastes, even when we don’t think it should be true, there is still something truthful about it. It’s true we are creatures—animals. We eat, excrete and procreate like all animals do. Yet, we don’t do it just like. We do it different. We do it with an inexplicable self-awareness.  “God is testing us to show that we are animals” (3:18). It’s a test? But a test for what? Maybe it’s to see if we still believe even though we are but creatures?

Can it also be true that we share the same fate? "For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. …All end up in the same place; all are from the dust, and to dust all return.” That’s true too, isn’t it? But what about the “Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?” (Ecc 3:19-21)  Can that be true? The wisest of all mortals often uses the phrase, “Who knows”.  Solomon knows the limits of wisdom. Exactly what happens after death is something wisdom of itself does not know. It wonders about it. But it can’t, of itself, get us there.

“By faith we know” such things (Hb 11:2). The word “faith” never appears in Biblical Wisdom: Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. Surprising, isn’t it?  Wisdom simply describes the world as it is seen and experienced. Whereas “faith is the conviction of things not seen” (Hb 11:11). We need something bigger than Solomon to get us to the resurrection at the last trumpet sound.

Meanwhile, as always in his musings, Solomon finds an island of well-being for us: “It is God's gift to us that we should eat and drink and take pleasure in all our toil” (Ecc 3:13). That’s why we eat different from the animals. We say Grace at meals. Animals don’t. When we receive food and drink as a gift from God, we can’t help but imagine that great feast that awaits us in Glory.