After commiserating with Daniel Bassill in a recent comment exchange I shared this bit of Old Testamentary with him and now I am sharing it with you. We were both lamenting how our legacies (aka memories) are at risk. I have been busy trying to figure out ways to plug the memory hole in our little boat. This brought me upright.
Ecclesiastes 1-3 King James Version (KJV)
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
It is a dark vision, but where has the hubris of our current one brought us? A very dark place indeed. I speak this from the vantage point of a first time grandfather. I want a world that will give my granddaughter a shot at a greater commons and not the war of all against all. I want a lot. Amen.
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Terry,
I’ve posted at least one article a year, usually around Easter, where I’ve pointed to scripture, and the work I’ve been doing. Rather than give you a single article, I invite you to browse the entire list, and pull out some of the ideas, hope, and frustrations, that I’ve expressed, which you’ve pointed out in your own article. https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search?q=easter
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Well said, “ I want a world that will give my granddaughter a shot at a greater commons and not the war of all against all. I want a lot. Amen.”
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This was not only about the perceived vanity but the priority of things. If you can enjoy your patch of earth and appreciate your family….that is worth it. Also worth working for the greater beyond.