Ecclesiastes:An Introduction 1:1-4

This is the first of an installment that I have entitled "the Solomon Project." This will be a rather ambitious attempt to comment on the wisdom books of the Old Testament on a yearly basis. My desire is to take the truths of the text and draw out insights and parallels that apply to today and particularly to those who suffer from addiction and compulsivity. I work primarily with sexual addiction but hopefully it will apply to any who struggle with addiction.

I will work to develop the applications upon a broad platform. The wisdom found in these books of the Old Testament can have a broad application so that any who are on a path of recovery can find help. Whether they be of the evangelical christian faith, more moderate christian beliefs, the Jewish faith or simply a belief in a higher power.

This week we will look at the purpose of the book. and the first 5 verses. Ecclesiastes appears to have been written by King Solomon. Some dispute this but he is probably the only person who could fit the profile presented in the book. Solomon brought the kingdom of Israel to its zenith. He says that he basically pursued every avenue of sensual pleasure and pursuit he desired from acquiring wives to massive building projects and the acqusition of land. He starts out talking about the emptiness of life and ends by talking about an adherence to "God's laws" We will explore that concept more later. The book revolves around the idea that there is no meaning to life to be found from this worldly point of view but God can give life perspective.

The opening lines talk about vanity of vanities. This concept may be better described as emptiness or the movement of breath or the wind. What does he start out with? Work. Work and the value of it. The writer asks the rhetorical question what good is it? Secondly he states that one generation comes and another goes. Finally the sun rises and sets. All these things have to do with endless reciprocity--over and over and over.

The writer also uses the concept of generations coming and going. Just as the work is futile also the passing of generations is a continual movement of people in and out of life. There is a futility of this movement nothing changes. Birth life and death are the same for everyone. Let me pose this question: How many of us actually were acquainted with our great grandparents? Probably not many. I did not know mine on my father's side and a barely knew my greatgrandmother on my mother's side. Generations come and go but many times we do not even have a connection to them relationally We are connected by genetics but not by relationship. W all want to make a lasting impact on our families and yet many of us do not even know the names of our great grandparents.

Those who stuggle with addiction many times attempt to escape this seeming monotony. Surely there will be something that will help to cope with the day to day processes of life and if not to cope at least to escape the monotony. But accepting reality as it really is, is part of recovery. Those of an evangelical persuastion may want to escape this concept of reality by immediately transferring their focus to heavenly things. Solomon does not allow us to do that. He ties his argument to the fact that in this life we are bound to this body and this world. We must deal with the realities of that. Step one of any twelve step program has to do with the the fact that we are powerless and life has become unmanageable. the emptiness of life is not devoid of conundrums--inexplicable occrrences that affect our lives. These things must be accepted for us to move forward. Our time is up for this week. So until next week "Keep coming back, it works if you work it and you're worth it."