Thursday of Week 25 in Ordinary Time
Ecc 1:2-11
Lk 9:7-9
For all his toil…what does man gain by it?
I have always imagined, whenever I come across today’s first reading, that the Preacher speaking is someone who’s perhaps past his prime, and who now waxes pearls of wisdom from personal lived experiences and the rhythms of Mother nature. He has made it through more than the halfway mark in life and his words offer wisdom born of personal experience, as he muses over the lessons he’s learned.
The Hebrew word for ‘vanity’ is ‘hevel’. For us, ‘vanity’ can be substituted by various options, depending on the context — arrogance, pride, affectation, narcissism, ostentation, pretentiousness etc. The Hebrew translation for ‘hevel’ though, has very different connotations; it can mean futility, breath, nothingness, meaningless and vapour. In this passage from Ecclesiastes 1, it is quite clear that the Preacher was making the point that man is so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Life is just vanity, as are our toil, which amounts to nothing. In fact, life is ‘wearisome’, as are ‘all things’.
The image used here is that of a spiral. It feels like history can be likened to a wheel. Whilst, in some sense, it feels like mankind is progressing in a linear-ish fashion, much of what we claim to be ‘new’ had already existed ‘long before our time’, ‘only no memory remains of earlier times, just as in times to come next year itself will not be remembered.’ The tone seems bleak and almost discouraging. We have not created nor achieved anything new in our lifetime; and even if we did, it will be forgotten by the time the next generation comes around. Put another way, all our strivings in this life are tantamount to nothing – at best, of fleeting significance that evaporates like the vapour (or ‘hevel’). We are all insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Life is just vanity and nothing is permanent. We cannot hold life back either – life simply carries on, whether or not we are participants of it.
Having had the chance to journey with some elderly, and been privy to their laments, such conclusions are very real. There is, invariably, regret over the folly of misplaced priorities, or one’s blindness to the transience of everything we hold on to – beyond material treasures, the relationships we cling to and even personal values like appearance and health.
Might God be nudging us to pause for an honest look at the priorities in our lives? Where do I expend the most of my time, talent and treasure? He seems to be saying to me (and to you), “Look! See what you have been doing. What does it amount to? Be honest – and then perhaps you may begin to see what truly matters.”
(Today’s OXYGEN by Corinne Cheok)
Prayer: (from St Teresa of Avila)
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things pass away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who has God
Finds he lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
Thanksgiving: Thank you, Father, for being real. You are not vanity, nor vapour, nor breath but are the Rock and the One who was, who is and is to come. Thank you for being eternal and unchanging, so that I can confidently turn to you and know I will never be forgotten. Amen.
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