Nothing New Under the Sun
More from Ellul on Ecclesiastes….
In his section on the Myth of Progress, Ellul remarks on Qohelet’s comment in 1.8:
All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
Ellul discusses this in terms of humanity as both creative and receptive: We run out of words, yet we continue to consume images and sounds.
Is this not true? I feel this all the time — there is too much to learn, too much to view, too much to read, too much to learn. And yet I run out of things to say — I have nothing to add.
The scary thing is that even with the overabundance of things to see and hear, there’s nothing new. I need to pay more attention to this: all those shiny objects that catch my attention? There’s nothing new in them. They don’t enlighten me. They don’t add anything of value to my understanding of the world or to the way I live my life. They don’t make me a better person or offer me any wisdom. They simply amuse/delight/distract me.
Even in my studies, the trap is there:
“When Qohelet tries to study everything that is done, he concludes that this is an evil occupation under the sun. You cannot draw any conclusion or lesson for the future from what happened in the past, because you know only the outer shell of things: piecemeal testimonies that enable us to tell stories but not to know the truth.”
Again, is this not true? I read literature, but all I can get are stories. If anything, it’s more honest than trying to read history, for I’d still end up with only stories. The inner truth of history is unknowable–we get appearances and effects, but cannot perceive the reality beneath.
May God give us the grace to accept the limitations of our knowledge and to learn wisdom from the Spirit of Christ.
All is Vanity — Even Me….
This morning I re-read some of Ellul’s study on Ecclesiastes, Reason for Being — the section where he discusses the issues surrounding the translation of the Hebrew word hebel as “vanity.” For Ellul, the term makes the most sense, as it captures the sense of uselessness that Qohelet is trying to describe. It’s not that the world is “nothing,” but that it doesn’t lead anywhere except for the grave — no matter what we do, how much work or success we achieve, we all end up in the grave and therefore our work is useless. What good does any of it do us?
I was struck in particular with a paragraph in which he discusses how “vanity” has the sense of “illusion” or “mirage,” which he connects with ostentation and with the way we present ourselves to others–and to ourselves:
…we present ourselves in such a way that we create illusions in the minds of others. [...] Throughout his book, Qohelet pulls off masks and lays illusions bare. In this sense, vanity also involves taking oneself seriously, being fooled by one’s mask, becoming vain in the midst of other people. For this, Qohelet offers us a mirror: look at yourself as you really are; what remains of your overblown self-satisfaction?
Guilty! I’ve been getting glimpses of my own self-delusions for a few months now–realizing my own mediocrity and lack of achievement both in the world and in my spiritual growth. Not fun, but very helpful–like being pruned.
May God in God’s lovingkindness show me who and what I truly am, so that I might meet the world with more humility and become more fruitful for the sake of God’s realm. Amen.
