Solomon on Saturday Morning

Saturday morning, and as I review this past week’s journal – what choices have I made this week will make a difference? Solomon would say none.  

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually, it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now. (Ecclesiastes 1:9-11)

Again, a week has zipped by; many days were much the same as the previous ones. Worries and wonders both sounded familiar – my routine, the same. The awareness intensifies that I am less than a speck – and so are most celebrities of our time.  My trepidation of the day when I can’t worry and wonder – when I can’t do what I please – when no one will remember me – grows.

Solomon says that God deals out our lot – and no matter what is wrong, it cannot be righted.  Working hard to be wise is like chasing the wind; all the wisdom in the world can’t dodge death, concluded Solomon. (Ecclesiastes 1:16-18) And the pursuit of pleasure is as much a dead-end as the pursuit of wisdom and doing good.

Lest the reader – or I – sink into depression: Ecclesiastes is man’s view of life; even though the guy is a smart, loaded and sophisticated, it is just man’s opinion, and Ecclesiastes is not the only book in the Bible. If it were, it might be the Bible for agnostics or even nihilists. 

Solomon – the author – wrote at the end of his life.  Autumn light, though slanted, can be as revelatory as spring sunlight – depending on where we shine it.  In today’s paper, an opinion writer reminded some memories are engraved on other pages, than those of historians.

A pediatrician told a young mother, under pressure from her all knowing mother-in-law: 

“. . . [N]ature retires a woman from parenting just when she has gotten the hang of it. . . . Bottom line: Leave the parenting to the parents. You get the fun part – grandparenting!

. . . Be more than just a name that fills a line on their genealogy chart. Be a loving memory engraved forever in their heart.” (Katie Butler Johnson, Dallas Morning News, May 12, 2012)

Fortunately, God inspired other writers to record history, poetry, and prophecy that give a framework and purpose to one preacher’s words. (John 20:31) Christ has given me life, settling me, a barren woman, as the happy mother of children – and grandchildren. (Psalm 113:9 )

Maybe Solomon needed to spend more time with his kids’ kids?