Periodically
throughout Kohelet’s exploration of humankind’s quest for significance in this
life he calls attention to the one inescapable reality that is common to all
of us. “The fact of death brings the search to a sudden stop. If one fate comes to all, and that fate is
extinction, it robs every man of his dignity and every project of its point.”[1]
Kohelet means for us to face death squarely, for if “our aim is to keep our
actions and words from being a chasing after the wind, or mist that evaporates
from a mirror,” then “the only way to achieve this is to begin by crashing into
a reality that is anything but wind!”[2]
Since death is such a stark and inevitable reality, many of us tend to want to
avoid having to think about it. Kohelet does not allow his audience the option
of escaping death’s reality because, as he sees it, “the main obstacle to
living well in the world is that mortal beings refuse to accept their mortality
and finitude.” [3]
As a result of mankind’s refusal to face the coming end of life "under the sun," injustice, anxiety, and folly pervade our choices and our world at large. The
wiser thing is to honestly contemplate that no matter what we have achieved or
accumulated on earth, our life will end sooner or later, so we should live
life fully and wisely in light of that fact. This is why Kohelet says:
It is better to go to the house of
mourning than to go to the house of
feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by
sadness of face the heart is made glad. (7:2-3).
Adequately
pondering death does not necessitate sitting in a gloomy, depressed state for
the rest of one’s life. What Kohelet is getting at is simply that “death brings
us to think about life [because] . . . every funeral anticipates our own.”[4]
When death comes “it is the same for all” (9:2); “all go to one place. All are
from the dust, and to dust all return” (3:20). Death eventually overtakes every
person born under the sun, and “as he came from his mother's womb he shall go
again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry
away in his hand.” (5:14). Kohelet wants those who hear his words to think not
just about death itself, but about life
in view of death; he is inviting us to step back and gain a better perspective
than the one of the man who strives ceaselessly without every stopping to ask “For
whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” (4:7). Once we take death
properly into account, there is a greater freedom to embrace life, to rest in
the enjoyment of simple things, and to live with wisdom in the moment. Hence,
Kohelet urges:
Go, eat your bread with
joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always
white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life
with the wife whom you love, all the days of your
vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in
your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds t0 do, do it with
all your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to
which you are going (9:7-9).
Life
is hevel; soon enough our days under
the sun will be over. So seize the moment while you still have the opportunity,
take joy in the pleasures of this life that God has allowed you to experience.
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