Ecclesiastes 5:18 (New International Version)
18 Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot.
I have been watching the news a lot lately, and now that the primary elections here in the states are finally over, and we have our presumptive nominees, the big story is big oil. Prices of oil and gas and food and everything derived from or influenced by the price of petroleum are at record highs. So basically everything is getting more expensive as petroleum is in every ting from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. It is in your cosmetics and the rubber soles of your shoes. It takes gas to power machinery to grow corn to feed you and to feed pigs and cows which feed you, but oh wait we are not going to feed you with that corn. We are going to turn it into a different kind of gas to power machinery to grow corn to not feed you. This makes perfect sense right?
And who is to blame? Many say big oil. Many say stock market speculators. Many say the countries that produce the oil. Many say we are for using too much. Many say our government for not allowing us to drill domestically to become energy independent. They are all right in part as there is most likely no one single cause, but I'm sure that in the American tradition of knee-jerk reactions we'll get some cool new legislation out of this. Hopefully some of it will be effective.
Being the good Christian that I am while watching Fox news the other day a comment struck me as so totally out of touch that I couldn't believe I was hearing it. The host of the show obviously felt likewise as he tried to point out to the "expert" he was talking to, but it was to no avail. I'm paraphrasing, but basically the host asked: What is the person working at the local 7 - 11 to do about these skyrocketing gas prices? He was obviously using this as an example of someone working paycheck to paycheck trying hard just to make ends meat. The response was something like: Well, the first thing I'd do is sell my car and get a new one that gets great gas mileage. Oh sure like everyone can just get up in the morning and say "Oh gas prices are going up, I' think I'll get a more fuel efficient car. Yep here is the $30,000 I tucked away in my sock drawer for just such an occasion. I'll just stop by the dealership on the way to my minimum wage job and pick me up a hybrid." If you are that person at 7 - 11 or that single mom who is just lucky to have transportation to your two jobs, or you know someone who is, you immediately see how ludicrous this sounds. It did however start me on a mental journey that lead me to Ecclesiastes.
As I said this "expert's" comment highlighted how out of touch many Americans are with the majority of the people in this country that ride the crests of economic turbulence, and also have to row the hardest in times of economic tranquility. I also realized that even most of these are far "better off" in regard to tangible things than are many around the world. Not to differentiate by lines on a map, there are people here in America and in every country of the world that don't know where their next bite of food is going to come from let alone how much the next tank of gas is going to cost for their Hummer or their 1995 Geo Metro. As much as that "expert" was out of touch with the working class in this country our country as a whold is out of touch with living conditions in a large part of our world where hunger war and opression threaten your very existence.
A variation of the verse above is found in several places throughout Ecclesiastes which I know many people find to be a rather depressing book. I on the other hand find it quite liberating. I know it is easier for me to say that I am not so troubled by what the media wants me to be troubled about because I'm not that person working at 7-11, and I'm not that single mom, but there are a lot of people much more well off than I who are concerned. This verse says to me to enjoy this day and what God has given to you however much or little and be happy with what God has given you to do. For everything else is pretty much meaningless and a distraction. I'd encourage you to read through the book as well. You'll be surprised how much of what we see going on around us today is addressed in there. As verse 1:9 says:
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
And don't read it from the perspective "oh well if most everything is meaningless then it is hopeless and why bother", but rather read it from the perspective of "if most everything is meaningless then it is not something I need to be concerned about and enslaved by". We can then focus our energies on those relatively few but eternally important things in life.
