Photo by Rev. David Mayer
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:12-14
I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in their toil” (Ecclesiastes 3:12-14, NRSV).
“Don’t you just love fall?” I asked exuberantly.
“No,” my companion replied. “It reminds me that everything is dying. Winter is coming.”
We live in Michigan, so I’m the first to admit that winter is a sobering prospect. I refuse to let tomorrow’s winter spoil today’s fall, however. In a weird sort of way, I savor these crisp, colorful days even more because I know that they are numbered.
Epicurus is usually given credit for the popular proverb, “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” The author of Ecclesiastes (the Teacher) says something quite similar in the passage quoted above, yet one gets the sense that he is less of a hedonist than he is a pragmatist. Life is short, he admits. So, make the most of it! But then he adds a dash of theology to his philosophy: “…it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in their toil.” According to the Teacher, God is less of a cosmic killjoy than the life of the party. Who knew? God wants us to eat, drink, and be merry!
The Teacher’s words in chapter three are less of a surprise when we know how to interpret his favorite refrain, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!” Translators often interpret this as “all is meaningless,” but nothing could be further from the Teacher’s intentions. The Hebrew word behind “vanity” is hevel, which is better rendered as “ephemeral.” Life is short, in other words. Make the most of it! Winter is coming, so let’s savor the beauty of fall. As Shakespeare put it in Sonnet 73: “This thou perceiv’st which makes thy love more strong, to love that well which thou must leave ere long.”
I was watching a PBS special about the River Danube the other day. It featured a segment highlighting the extremely short life of a particular kind of mayfly. The larva hides in the mud for up to three years, but then it rises from the water for a “short but well-lived” lifespan of only three hours. The documentary didn’t show the mayfly doing much eating and drinking, but there was a whole lot of making merry.
In the spirit of the mayfly, crisp fall days, and the timeless wisdom of the Teacher, let me conclude with this on-point poem by Rose Milligan. It’s called “Dust If You Must.”
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:12-14
I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in their toil” (Ecclesiastes 3:12-14, NRSV).
“Don’t you just love fall?” I asked exuberantly.
“No,” my companion replied. “It reminds me that everything is dying. Winter is coming.”
We live in Michigan, so I’m the first to admit that winter is a sobering prospect. I refuse to let tomorrow’s winter spoil today’s fall, however. In a weird sort of way, I savor these crisp, colorful days even more because I know that they are numbered.
Epicurus is usually given credit for the popular proverb, “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” The author of Ecclesiastes (the Teacher) says something quite similar in the passage quoted above, yet one gets the sense that he is less of a hedonist than he is a pragmatist. Life is short, he admits. So, make the most of it! But then he adds a dash of theology to his philosophy: “…it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in their toil.” According to the Teacher, God is less of a cosmic killjoy than the life of the party. Who knew? God wants us to eat, drink, and be merry!
The Teacher’s words in chapter three are less of a surprise when we know how to interpret his favorite refrain, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!” Translators often interpret this as “all is meaningless,” but nothing could be further from the Teacher’s intentions. The Hebrew word behind “vanity” is hevel, which is better rendered as “ephemeral.” Life is short, in other words. Make the most of it! Winter is coming, so let’s savor the beauty of fall. As Shakespeare put it in Sonnet 73: “This thou perceiv’st which makes thy love more strong, to love that well which thou must leave ere long.”
I was watching a PBS special about the River Danube the other day. It featured a segment highlighting the extremely short life of a particular kind of mayfly. The larva hides in the mud for up to three years, but then it rises from the water for a “short but well-lived” lifespan of only three hours. The documentary didn’t show the mayfly doing much eating and drinking, but there was a whole lot of making merry.
In the spirit of the mayfly, crisp fall days, and the timeless wisdom of the Teacher, let me conclude with this on-point poem by Rose Milligan. It’s called “Dust If You Must.”
Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better
To paint a picture or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?
Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.
Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.
Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.
Ponder: Must you dust?
Pray: Help me to savor each moment of my wild and precious life, O God.
Ponder: Must you dust?
Pray: Help me to savor each moment of my wild and precious life, O God.