Under the sun?
"I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind."
"Under the Sun" is the quality of the Quester's search within life. The assessment offered in much of the book of Ecclesiastes is an exercise in taking life at its complete face value. Isn't this why it resonates with us at times and at other times it frightens us, that such a bleak take on life could be uttered in the Bible? The Quester's search is limited to the life that is seen -- no spiritual effect, no God in the picture. Any time we read "under the sun" we could essentially swap the language for "apart from God." Read the Quester as the one who was willing to experience life to its limits -- as if God did not exist, as if satisfaction and fulfillment would one day be found in life "under the sun." We get his assessment of life in the first few sentences of the book:
"Smoke, nothing but smoke. [That's what the Quester says.] There's nothing to anything - it's all smoke."
For me...the main question becomes How much of my day do I function as if God is not a reality?
(Scriv)
"Under the Sun" is the quality of the Quester's search within life. The assessment offered in much of the book of Ecclesiastes is an exercise in taking life at its complete face value. Isn't this why it resonates with us at times and at other times it frightens us, that such a bleak take on life could be uttered in the Bible? The Quester's search is limited to the life that is seen -- no spiritual effect, no God in the picture. Any time we read "under the sun" we could essentially swap the language for "apart from God." Read the Quester as the one who was willing to experience life to its limits -- as if God did not exist, as if satisfaction and fulfillment would one day be found in life "under the sun." We get his assessment of life in the first few sentences of the book:
"Smoke, nothing but smoke. [That's what the Quester says.] There's nothing to anything - it's all smoke."
For me...the main question becomes How much of my day do I function as if God is not a reality?
(Scriv)
posted at 10:49 AM
1 Comments:
The real scary thing about this question, at least for me, is that i begin to get so distanced from what it might mean to live "more fruitful" (as you said Daniel). I think there are times when i kid myself---believing i'm living this life as if God matters---but it's nothing more than a nod in His direction. I forget what it has been like before---to be alive to my days--seeing more within this life than BOREDOM or this CYCLICAL and MILDLY INTERESTING LIFE. I forget that God longs for us to live out this deeply sensitive life to Him in ways that will create LIFE within our everyday. I forget that the way i interact with people will be different--the way i live my life will be different---not just in a moral choices sense---but in a my grayscale world is infused with color, beauty, and meaning.
Do i even care about having a full-color life? Full color means more real too---more real hurt (not numb and distant)--more real pleasure (not sneaking "hits" of lust and greed around the corner so God won't catch us)---more real experience (not this dull life that mocks us with no meaning).
Most of the time--i've been content with my grayscale life.
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