This past week at Lunch and Learn, we continued our study of Ecclesiastes. We studied chapter three, a chapter made famous by the song, “To Everything There is a Season, Turn! Turn! Turn!” which took its lyrics straight from the chapter. There were two verses a little further down that stood out to me that I thought I would share:
12 I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to get pleasure so long as they live.
13 But also that every person should eat and drink, and enjoy pleasure for all their labor, is the gift of God.
This translation is from the JPS bible in 1917 (because it is public domain now, the website I got this from can use it freely). The word they translate as pleasure is tov, which I believe is better translated as good or goodness. This slight translation shift allows us to understand the text in a much different way and offers us advice for surviving the quarantine and thriving in life. Consider this translation of the verse instead:
12 I know that there is nothing better for a person, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live.
13 And also that every person should eat and drink, and see the goodness in all their labor, this is God’s gift [to us].
This slight change shows us that what is truly lasting is being present and journey-oriented, not goal-oriented. The verses suggest to us to not just live in the moment but to savor the moment.
For example, I went for a drive this week for the first time in over a month just to get out of the house. At first it was just a normal drive to nowhere. Then around Wallingford I did something I had never done on a drive before. With both hands on the wheel, as they had been for the past twenty minutes, I began to not just touch the steering wheel, but actually tried to feel it. I savored the moment in which I was in, and it made my drive more pleasurable then it ever was before.
What Ecclesiastes and I are suggesting is not easy to do. It requires a lot of work and presence of mind. However, our capacity to enjoy life’s journey is, as Ecclesiastes suggests, the gift that God gave us. So, if there is a moment in all this craziness that you can savor, try to do so. If you find yourself wandering mentally, regain your focus, and try and be present. As you work, labor in whatever you do, take pride in it, and try and be mindful of that pride. Sometimes in doing this we will succeed, and sometimes we will fail. However, if we keep trying, if we persevere through the falls, and get up and focus on the journey, we will come out of this pandemic, spiritually stronger and more resilient.
