In our small group at church we recently read together Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 (English Standard Version):
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 vainlife 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 to do, do it with your might,for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
In our little small group, we discussed what the passage means to us.
For me, this passage is a charge to participate fully in life, even in the face of absurdity and death. This has been a useful message for me in 2020. Frankly, I got out of the habit of showering and shaving regularly. I stopped exercising. What was the point? I couldn’t go anywhere. I saw no one.
But – there’s always a point. As the passage above explains – this is what we’re here to do. To live.
Living well in the face of uncertainty, absurdity and death is unusual and therefore can stand out. If I truly believe in the Kingdom of God, I must participate fully in life.
