See the earlier blogs on my approach to this blog. In short it is a blog concerned with the application of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes to people who suffer from addiction and compulsion, especially sexual addiction and compulsivity. This week we are dealing with Chapter 3 verses 16-22.
We would like to think that justice is blind in our country. All of us who have lived for any length of time know that it just isn't so. unethical lawyers and judges pervade our system. One of my clients now is serving time in what appears to be a twisted act of justice. As DNA testing is perfected inmates to be exonerated who have served time for crimes they didn't commit. Justice isn't perfect and as we find out from Ecclesiastes it never has been.
Ecclesiastes 3:16 reads: "And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment--wickedness was there, in the place of justice--wickedness was there." (Ecc 3:16 NIV) The author, I think Solomon personally, not only saw that there was wickedness in the judgment but also wickedness in the justice. The verdict was perverted and the sentencing was as well. Solomon holds out hope though that it will all be made right. He adds: "I thought in my heart, "God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed." (Ecc 3:17 NIV) Hearkening back to the beginning of the chapter he presents the concept that there is an appropriate time for everything including the leveling out process of justice. As we think about justice as addicts and compulsive people we want justice for ourselves. We many times feel that we have been wronged. This is part of the process of recovery. One of many sections of the road on the pathway to healing. What we don't realize is that we may not always want the justice we deserve as well. We have wronged others. Other individuals we have been in close relationship with, spouses and almost all we have touched in an intimate way, including friends and relatives. There is an appropriate time for justice but also a time for forgiveness and grace. In our efforts to avoid dealing with our own difficulties and pain we sometimes set out to reform the world, working tirelessly to reform others or society. These things can be good but not at the expense or searching and fearless moral inventory (step 4).
Solomon now turns to the human condition apart from anything good or bad, done or not done--death. He says in verse 18-20: "I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals (v. 18)." Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless (v. 19). All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return." (Ecc 3:18-20 NIV) God's judgment on all living things is appropriate and final and equal--all die. The first part of the chapter has argued for beauty in the plan of God's timing. Injustices bring that appropriateness into question. Solomon brings forth the argument that all living things face the same fate. A fate I might add that came from the actions of Adam and Eve in the garden. The historical significance of this incident from the book of beginnings is not lost on an intelligent man like Solomon. This presents a sobering thought for us. Addicts and compulsive people tends to live as if there is no marking of time. They never get old. All that matters is that the addiction/compulsion gets energized and acted out (notice I did not say it is satisfied!) This passage tells us that we will die one day. Existentialist thinkers have presented in their writings the concept that one is not ready to fully live until one is fully ready to die.
Solomon then presents a rhetorical question: "Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" (Ecc 3:21 NIV) He does not expect an answer here. There is no observable answer. When one dies, regardless of whether it is a human being or an animal, the "lifebreath" leaves them. It is the same for all. That life force says Solomon cannot be seen we do not know whether it goes upward or downward. It is conceivable that at this time in the intellectual history of the Jewish people such philosophical questions may have been entertained but certainty eludes us. "under the sun," her on earth. there is no empirical data that will tell us for certainty where the spirit of men or animals goes.
"So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?" (Ecc 3:22 NIV) "This is a variation on a theme. When we reach life's conundrums turn from the sobering realities of injustice and enjoy life. Here he says enjoy work. Some of us will see life as a problem to be solved rather than a mystery to be lived (Bradshaw, Healing p. 104-5). Solomon brings us back to a our place in the world to make sense of all of this. We allow God to have his place and we take our rightful place. Enjoying fulfilling work. Addicts live in a certain sense of excess and deprivation. True enjoyment escapes the addict. Those things that would be good for him to partake in he dismisses. They get in the way of acting out and compulsive behavior. Deprivation becomes part of the routine because acting out compulsively take effort and focus. Things lost on more meaningful, appropriate, and beneficial behaviors. Our time is up for today. Keep coming back it works if you work it and you're worth it.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The Solomon Project: Ecclesiastes 3:14-15
This blog is a portion of what I call the Solomon Project. It is an ongoing work that applies the wisdom literature of the Bible to the lives of addicts and compulsively directed people. Presently I am making my way through the book of Ecclesiastes. The work attempts to apply the truths found here to a broad array of people from all cultural and religious perspectives. While I may come at the ordering of my life from an evangelical perspective, I want to help others simply understand what one author in Scripture has said about living life. I strive to make my comments applicable to all walks of life.
Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski accepted the invitation by Native Americans to design and build a memorial to Crazy Horse. Ziolkowski had worked on the Mount Rushmore sculpture that sits some 17 miles north of the Crazy Horse Sculpture. He accepted this invitation in 1947 and began the project in 1948. The project is still ongoing some 62 years later. When finished it will be the largest sculpture in the world.
You may ask what has that got to do with Ecclesiastes? Verse 3:14 reads: I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. (Ecc 3:14 NIV) Solomon brings this section to a conclusion with a thought he has introduced before in 1:15 Things that are done are final. The granite peak that is being carved into a monument to Crazy Horse the famous sioux indian chief can never be undone. The dynamite blasts that carve away rock cannot be replaced. It is final. Then he lays down a statement that is hard for some to accept. He does this "so that men will revere him." Why will this be hard for some to accept? Because we want to blame God for what happens in life, especially our lives. Compulsive and addictive people have a hard time with responsibility for actions, especially their own. It is hard sometimes to see how God's direction and our actions all fit together, (note to the reader the author tells us not to question it but accept it. 6:10). The important point is that it does. Furthermore it teaches us to revere Him. The dictionary defines revere as: "to regard with respect tinged with awe." I like that. When we recognize the power of God it should bring us to reverence for Him. The things that he does have a finality to them. Not only finality but beauty and appropriateness (verse 11). Persons who struggle with addictions and compulsions lose the sense of appropriateness of life. Life has to revolve around the action-whatever that may be-that gives them the fix that they need. Addiction and compulsivity are not a part of God's plan. These states of being are neither beautiful nor appropriate.
Verse 15 reads: Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. (Ecc 3:15 NIV) Again a truth that may make the hearts of addictive and compulsive persons restless. There is in the finality of what God does a certain predictability. Actions will always have predictable consequences. Addicts delude themselves into thinking that they escape those outcomes. They do not. A person by the name of Mister Delitzsch says it this way: "The government of God . . . does not change; His creative as well as His moral ordering of the world produces with the same laws the same phenomena . . . His government remains always, and brings . . . up again that which hath been." Acting out in ways that is destructive to relationships and to others lives will evoke the emotions of hurt and anger in them. Humans are made that way. Civil laws govern in such a way that when we violate others person or property we can be held accountable. We cannot escape these outcomes when we are found out. Part of any Twelve Step recovery program will involve Making amends. Making amends is about fitting into God's plan and making different choices which will many times bring surprisingly different results. I speak many times of managing consequences by that I do not mean that I deny consequences, or that I try to minimize them but I accept what consequences come my we as I take full responsibility for what I have done and live skillful within those attempting always to act the way God wants me to. In closing I think the serenity prayer is in order: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can;and wisdom to know the difference. This is usually where the prayer stops. However the full prayer continues on:
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He (Christ) did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next.Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
Our session is up for this week, so until next time: Keep coming back it works if you work it and you're worth it!
Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski accepted the invitation by Native Americans to design and build a memorial to Crazy Horse. Ziolkowski had worked on the Mount Rushmore sculpture that sits some 17 miles north of the Crazy Horse Sculpture. He accepted this invitation in 1947 and began the project in 1948. The project is still ongoing some 62 years later. When finished it will be the largest sculpture in the world.
You may ask what has that got to do with Ecclesiastes? Verse 3:14 reads: I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. (Ecc 3:14 NIV) Solomon brings this section to a conclusion with a thought he has introduced before in 1:15 Things that are done are final. The granite peak that is being carved into a monument to Crazy Horse the famous sioux indian chief can never be undone. The dynamite blasts that carve away rock cannot be replaced. It is final. Then he lays down a statement that is hard for some to accept. He does this "so that men will revere him." Why will this be hard for some to accept? Because we want to blame God for what happens in life, especially our lives. Compulsive and addictive people have a hard time with responsibility for actions, especially their own. It is hard sometimes to see how God's direction and our actions all fit together, (note to the reader the author tells us not to question it but accept it. 6:10). The important point is that it does. Furthermore it teaches us to revere Him. The dictionary defines revere as: "to regard with respect tinged with awe." I like that. When we recognize the power of God it should bring us to reverence for Him. The things that he does have a finality to them. Not only finality but beauty and appropriateness (verse 11). Persons who struggle with addictions and compulsions lose the sense of appropriateness of life. Life has to revolve around the action-whatever that may be-that gives them the fix that they need. Addiction and compulsivity are not a part of God's plan. These states of being are neither beautiful nor appropriate.
Verse 15 reads: Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. (Ecc 3:15 NIV) Again a truth that may make the hearts of addictive and compulsive persons restless. There is in the finality of what God does a certain predictability. Actions will always have predictable consequences. Addicts delude themselves into thinking that they escape those outcomes. They do not. A person by the name of Mister Delitzsch says it this way: "The government of God . . . does not change; His creative as well as His moral ordering of the world produces with the same laws the same phenomena . . . His government remains always, and brings . . . up again that which hath been." Acting out in ways that is destructive to relationships and to others lives will evoke the emotions of hurt and anger in them. Humans are made that way. Civil laws govern in such a way that when we violate others person or property we can be held accountable. We cannot escape these outcomes when we are found out. Part of any Twelve Step recovery program will involve Making amends. Making amends is about fitting into God's plan and making different choices which will many times bring surprisingly different results. I speak many times of managing consequences by that I do not mean that I deny consequences, or that I try to minimize them but I accept what consequences come my we as I take full responsibility for what I have done and live skillful within those attempting always to act the way God wants me to. In closing I think the serenity prayer is in order: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can;and wisdom to know the difference. This is usually where the prayer stops. However the full prayer continues on:
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He (Christ) did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next.Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
Our session is up for this week, so until next time: Keep coming back it works if you work it and you're worth it!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Solomon Project: Ecclesiastes 3:9-13
To see the introduction to this blog please see the earlier posts. We are still exploring chapter three of Ecclesiastes. We turn from 3:1-8 to a contrasting view of life in 9-13.
What does the worker gain from his toil? (Ecc 3:9 NIV). The author sets out a rhetorical question again. What does a worker gain from his labor? The expected answer as before is that there is no gain.
I have seen the burden God has laid on men. (Ecc 3:10 NIV). Solomon has changed the tone of his quest at this point but it is a stark contrast that continues the flow of opposites. He brings these opposites to bear upon the times for all things. All of these activities are a burden to mankind. The contrast comes in the next vierse.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecc 3:11 NIV). This sets the contrast which is a contrasting parallelism to the verses 1-8. All of this is a burden but God makes all things appropriate in their time. This verse may one of the most beautiful in Scripture. It states that God has set eternity in the hearts of men. This is in many ways an enigma The heart is figurative language for the seat of life: emotions, drives, thought. This figurative language is then explained as encapsulating eternity: an impossibility. But the thought is that man is not simply an animal (although he will later make the correlation), but was made for eternity. How does this fit into this section? It presents a contrast to time. Man is created according to the Genesis narrative to be in perfect fellowship with his heavenly creator—God. However the fall of man, according to the Genesis narrative, brought an end to eternal life. God barred them from the Tree of Life so that they would not live forever. Solomon presents for us here the inscrutability of eternity and the limitations of life under the sun. All of these things listed in 3:1-8 are appropriate in their time. But man cannot know it. He is limited in his perspective “under the sun.”..Even though eternity is a part of our very makeup we cannot know all things from the beginning to the end. We don’t know how tings turn out. We are limited to time and space.
I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.
(Ecc 3:12 NIV). Solomon gives us two things in this verse that men can gain or have in this life—happiness an elusive thing and doing good—altruism--doing things outside of ourselves for others.
That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. (Ecc 3:13 NIV). This verse should be translated as a conditional sentence. Rather than “that” it should read “if”: “If everyone may eat and drink . . .” If a person can eat drink and be satisfied with his work this is a gift from God. These aspects of life elude the person who “chases after wind.”
How does this passage apply to addiction and compulsivity? Addicts thrive on predictability. Compulsive people must be able to control their environments in order to lower compulsive behavior. This passage tells us that man is not in control of life or its circumstances. Even though he has made us creatures that are capable of experiencing eternity we live under the crushing burden of life “under the sun.” Addicts and compulsive people want to many times fight against the logical conclusions of the circumstances they either create or find themselves in. But this passage states that God has an appropriate time for everything. We want to know how things will turn out. But we simply can’t we can apply principles that can generally predict how things will turn out as with the proverbs enumerated in this book but they are not predictions.
Some of you may be genuinely struggling to overcome addiction or compulsive behavior. You may wonder if recovery will ever come. Remember everything has an appropriate time. God has not forgotten you. We commit our lives to God as we understand Him. That includes understanding how he governs our lives. How he plans to use addiction and compulsive behavior in our lives. This passage implies that we accept our place in this life and allow God to have His. He is the supreme governor of life. Our task if we can grasp it is to live, to enjoy our work, be happy, and do good. All of these activities are a gift from God if we can accept them.
Our time is up for today. I hope you continue to follow this blog. So keep coming back it works if you work it and you’re worth it!!
What does the worker gain from his toil? (Ecc 3:9 NIV). The author sets out a rhetorical question again. What does a worker gain from his labor? The expected answer as before is that there is no gain.
I have seen the burden God has laid on men. (Ecc 3:10 NIV). Solomon has changed the tone of his quest at this point but it is a stark contrast that continues the flow of opposites. He brings these opposites to bear upon the times for all things. All of these activities are a burden to mankind. The contrast comes in the next vierse.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecc 3:11 NIV). This sets the contrast which is a contrasting parallelism to the verses 1-8. All of this is a burden but God makes all things appropriate in their time. This verse may one of the most beautiful in Scripture. It states that God has set eternity in the hearts of men. This is in many ways an enigma The heart is figurative language for the seat of life: emotions, drives, thought. This figurative language is then explained as encapsulating eternity: an impossibility. But the thought is that man is not simply an animal (although he will later make the correlation), but was made for eternity. How does this fit into this section? It presents a contrast to time. Man is created according to the Genesis narrative to be in perfect fellowship with his heavenly creator—God. However the fall of man, according to the Genesis narrative, brought an end to eternal life. God barred them from the Tree of Life so that they would not live forever. Solomon presents for us here the inscrutability of eternity and the limitations of life under the sun. All of these things listed in 3:1-8 are appropriate in their time. But man cannot know it. He is limited in his perspective “under the sun.”..Even though eternity is a part of our very makeup we cannot know all things from the beginning to the end. We don’t know how tings turn out. We are limited to time and space.
I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.
(Ecc 3:12 NIV). Solomon gives us two things in this verse that men can gain or have in this life—happiness an elusive thing and doing good—altruism--doing things outside of ourselves for others.
That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. (Ecc 3:13 NIV). This verse should be translated as a conditional sentence. Rather than “that” it should read “if”: “If everyone may eat and drink . . .” If a person can eat drink and be satisfied with his work this is a gift from God. These aspects of life elude the person who “chases after wind.”
How does this passage apply to addiction and compulsivity? Addicts thrive on predictability. Compulsive people must be able to control their environments in order to lower compulsive behavior. This passage tells us that man is not in control of life or its circumstances. Even though he has made us creatures that are capable of experiencing eternity we live under the crushing burden of life “under the sun.” Addicts and compulsive people want to many times fight against the logical conclusions of the circumstances they either create or find themselves in. But this passage states that God has an appropriate time for everything. We want to know how things will turn out. But we simply can’t we can apply principles that can generally predict how things will turn out as with the proverbs enumerated in this book but they are not predictions.
Some of you may be genuinely struggling to overcome addiction or compulsive behavior. You may wonder if recovery will ever come. Remember everything has an appropriate time. God has not forgotten you. We commit our lives to God as we understand Him. That includes understanding how he governs our lives. How he plans to use addiction and compulsive behavior in our lives. This passage implies that we accept our place in this life and allow God to have His. He is the supreme governor of life. Our task if we can grasp it is to live, to enjoy our work, be happy, and do good. All of these activities are a gift from God if we can accept them.
Our time is up for today. I hope you continue to follow this blog. So keep coming back it works if you work it and you’re worth it!!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The Solomon Project Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
For an introduction to this blog please see the earlier entries. We are beginning chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes. It is "interesting?" that this entry this week is on time when we had to change our clocks to Daylight Savings Time this weekend. Archibald Hart Professor Emeritus of the Psychology Department of Fuller Theological Seminary relates the story of having a full body scan and finding that he had to have heart surgery. He ended up in the very bed in the same hospital where his good friend Louis Smedes had just died from falling off of a ladder at his home. Dr. Hart makes the observation that we are quick to attribute good things to God but not so easily the less fortunate events of life.
This particular poem has made its way in the English language and culture and permeates how we view and experience time. The phrase we use "there is a time and place for everything." echos this poem. It's short staccato style is almost like a clock ticking. Verse one says:
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: (Ecc 3:1 NIV) This opening line orients us to the content of the poem. There is a time and place for everything and as we will see these events are in the hand of God according to the author. The following contrasts are polar opposites and are a figure of speech called a merism. The author uses this technique as an economy of language. The author could not begin to name all the events in one's life that have their appointed times. Thus by pairing opposites he means to include everything in between as well.
Verse three may cause the most questions: a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, (Ecc 3:3 NIV) Killing and healing do not appear to be opposites but the term for kill may be a hyperbole meaning that it may refer to fatal or near fatal wounding. The polarity would then make sense.
Verse five has caused questions also: a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, (Ecc 3:5 NIV) This probably refers to rendering a field unproductive by scattering stones on it. This would fit with the larger parallel structure of the poem. The author talks about planting and reaping in verse 2b. Gathering the stones would have to do with making the field productive. This fits into the concept of the book of carrying out your tasks with enjoyment.
Verse six reads: a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, (Ecc 3:6 NIV) The concept of throwing away probably is not a good translation. This word has to do with giving up something for lost. He certainly is thinking of losing your car keys or your wallet. But certainly there are far more momentous losses. Loss of a marriage, loss of a relationship, loss of a loved one. There is a time for giving these things up as lost.
It is not insignificant that the following verse talks of tearing. This is a metonymy where one thing stands for another. The tearing is the physical act that is expressing grief an emotion of sorrow. Verse six expresses the concept of loss. Verse seven the expression of loss.
People who suffer from addiction and compulsivity have a problem with time. It slips through their fingers. Time is wasted on compulsive behavior. Much of addiction has to do with avoiding facing the concepts discussed in these verses. We don't want to face loss and mourning, being productive, and being silent and speaking. It seems that addicts never can get this right. They have a hard time knowing when to speak up and be assertive and when to keep silent and many times to avoid harming others with angry words.
Many of us cannot understand why God allows things to happen in their time. I do not understand why God wove my life the way he did. I thought about it this way as I meditated on writing this. We think of God as weaving the tapestries of our lives. My life is more like those rugs that can be made from scraps of cloth. Made with pieces of cast-away material--not good for anything else. I thought my life was at its end. That is when it truly began.
In the first eight verses here God is strangely left out. The author does not rush to include a divine element in destiny. He crafts his work very deftly. He knows when that should be interjected. Remember we are dealing with the fleeting nature of wind. Emptiness and the futility of life "under the sun." He wants to have us "sit" in it for the moment. We may not want to do that. Many of us think that waiting and patience are overrated. There are many things that happen not just certain times but that happen at all that make us think that if this is God's idea of orchestrating life he is an evil augur. We live in a sinful world. Solomon is saying here that things happen. From a human perspective they do not make sense. The question why is asked of me more than almost any other single question. I do not have the answer to the problem of evil. These happenings cover things from a child's pet dying to longstanding chronic childhood sexual abuse. As John Townsend says, "Our capacity to sin creatively is limited only by our depravity."
Those of you who struggle with addiction may wonder when the time will come when you will not struggle with addiction. You want compulsivity to be gone from your life. If you have done or are in the midst of doing step work you may feel that you have come to a standstill. Of course we know that recovery is like swimming upstream in a fast moving current. If you don't keep paddling you will be carried down stream. But perhaps you can think of it this way. Can you get to shore to be able to stand on solid footing. If you have stopped in recovery and maintaining sobriety is difficult rather than stagnating how about consolidating? Get a firm footing. Look at where you're at in the steps and attempt to move ahead again. Continuing in this process will become cyclical--a danger in addiction recovery. Get some help. Talk to your sponsor or perhaps a new sponsor could help. During this consolidation phase "think" differently but don't "think" that "thinking" is the cure. Action--different positive--action is the way of recovery. This may mean doing a Step four or doing it in that truly searching manner. Remember the solid footing is step three.
Some of you reading this may have happened upon this site quite by accident. and have no idea what this is about. It is about addiction recovery and sobriety. It is about accepting life on its terms. As this passage says there is a time and place for everything. If you need some resources visit my website at http://www.thesouldoctor.org/
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.
This particular poem has made its way in the English language and culture and permeates how we view and experience time. The phrase we use "there is a time and place for everything." echos this poem. It's short staccato style is almost like a clock ticking. Verse one says:
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: (Ecc 3:1 NIV) This opening line orients us to the content of the poem. There is a time and place for everything and as we will see these events are in the hand of God according to the author. The following contrasts are polar opposites and are a figure of speech called a merism. The author uses this technique as an economy of language. The author could not begin to name all the events in one's life that have their appointed times. Thus by pairing opposites he means to include everything in between as well.
Verse three may cause the most questions: a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, (Ecc 3:3 NIV) Killing and healing do not appear to be opposites but the term for kill may be a hyperbole meaning that it may refer to fatal or near fatal wounding. The polarity would then make sense.
Verse five has caused questions also: a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, (Ecc 3:5 NIV) This probably refers to rendering a field unproductive by scattering stones on it. This would fit with the larger parallel structure of the poem. The author talks about planting and reaping in verse 2b. Gathering the stones would have to do with making the field productive. This fits into the concept of the book of carrying out your tasks with enjoyment.
Verse six reads: a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, (Ecc 3:6 NIV) The concept of throwing away probably is not a good translation. This word has to do with giving up something for lost. He certainly is thinking of losing your car keys or your wallet. But certainly there are far more momentous losses. Loss of a marriage, loss of a relationship, loss of a loved one. There is a time for giving these things up as lost.
It is not insignificant that the following verse talks of tearing. This is a metonymy where one thing stands for another. The tearing is the physical act that is expressing grief an emotion of sorrow. Verse six expresses the concept of loss. Verse seven the expression of loss.
People who suffer from addiction and compulsivity have a problem with time. It slips through their fingers. Time is wasted on compulsive behavior. Much of addiction has to do with avoiding facing the concepts discussed in these verses. We don't want to face loss and mourning, being productive, and being silent and speaking. It seems that addicts never can get this right. They have a hard time knowing when to speak up and be assertive and when to keep silent and many times to avoid harming others with angry words.
Many of us cannot understand why God allows things to happen in their time. I do not understand why God wove my life the way he did. I thought about it this way as I meditated on writing this. We think of God as weaving the tapestries of our lives. My life is more like those rugs that can be made from scraps of cloth. Made with pieces of cast-away material--not good for anything else. I thought my life was at its end. That is when it truly began.
In the first eight verses here God is strangely left out. The author does not rush to include a divine element in destiny. He crafts his work very deftly. He knows when that should be interjected. Remember we are dealing with the fleeting nature of wind. Emptiness and the futility of life "under the sun." He wants to have us "sit" in it for the moment. We may not want to do that. Many of us think that waiting and patience are overrated. There are many things that happen not just certain times but that happen at all that make us think that if this is God's idea of orchestrating life he is an evil augur. We live in a sinful world. Solomon is saying here that things happen. From a human perspective they do not make sense. The question why is asked of me more than almost any other single question. I do not have the answer to the problem of evil. These happenings cover things from a child's pet dying to longstanding chronic childhood sexual abuse. As John Townsend says, "Our capacity to sin creatively is limited only by our depravity."
Those of you who struggle with addiction may wonder when the time will come when you will not struggle with addiction. You want compulsivity to be gone from your life. If you have done or are in the midst of doing step work you may feel that you have come to a standstill. Of course we know that recovery is like swimming upstream in a fast moving current. If you don't keep paddling you will be carried down stream. But perhaps you can think of it this way. Can you get to shore to be able to stand on solid footing. If you have stopped in recovery and maintaining sobriety is difficult rather than stagnating how about consolidating? Get a firm footing. Look at where you're at in the steps and attempt to move ahead again. Continuing in this process will become cyclical--a danger in addiction recovery. Get some help. Talk to your sponsor or perhaps a new sponsor could help. During this consolidation phase "think" differently but don't "think" that "thinking" is the cure. Action--different positive--action is the way of recovery. This may mean doing a Step four or doing it in that truly searching manner. Remember the solid footing is step three.
Some of you reading this may have happened upon this site quite by accident. and have no idea what this is about. It is about addiction recovery and sobriety. It is about accepting life on its terms. As this passage says there is a time and place for everything. If you need some resources visit my website at http://www.thesouldoctor.org/
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.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Solomon Project--Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
This week we come to one of the meanings in this meaningless life that Solomon talks about. Solomon has been talking about the meaningless of life and its pursuits. Now he tells us how to go about that. Verse 2:24 reads:
A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, (Ecc 2:24 NIV). Solomon is not saying that all the other things are not good. They don['t provide this. Satisfaction. Eating and drinking perhaps signify living the daily work of sustaining oneself. Being satisfied with ones work is an elusive thing. In one survey 47 percent of the people said they were satisfied with their occupation. Clergy were the highest at 87 percent. Interestingly 67 percent of psychologists said they were satisfied with their occupation.
Solomon says this is a sovereign gift from God. Any why not? This was the original design according to the Genesis narrative. Man was given the task of keeping the garden and subduing the earth. It was man's original design. It is a gift from God. We all find fulfillment in giving ourselves to a task greater than ourselves.
Verse 25 reads:
for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? (Ecc 2:25 NIV) Solomon brings us to one of the first answers to the meaningless of life. God. Some of you reading this may think of other persons, personalities, beings in this concept but Solomon says that there is a being greater than ourselves that gives meaning to life. Step two in the Twelve steps reads "Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Solomon says that this is the God who gives meaning to life.
Verse 26 reads:
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (Ecc 2:26 NIV) This is a lynch pin to the previous section Solomon is tying the two sections together with the thought of laying up riches to be transferred to those who please God. The latent thought then is one ought to be one who pleases God. For he will reap wealth. Is this a promise? No that as some would have us believe. The reality of life tells us that the righteous suffer and fail also. It is a general principle. How is one pleasing to God. Solomon will tell us in upcoming parts of the book through proverbs how this takes place. But here he has introduced a significant concept. Satisfaction in life comes from pleasing God. God gives to that person not only satisfaction with his work but wisdom, knowledge and happiness. Living wisely, righteously, or however you want to phrase it has to do with a life of recovery from addiction. As addicts we learn how to live differently. Step twelve says "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, (or any other addict) and to practice these principles in all our affairs." We turn our lives over to the care of God and improve conscious contact with Him. We live by the principles of the Twelve Steps. We make amends and continue to do so. I think of this in terms of manging consequences. We can't skirt consequences. We can't deny them we can't medicate them away. We go through them. All the while praying for guidance from God (the wisdom and knowledge mentioned above). I think it was either Pia Melody or Claudia Black that said: "You choose your behaviors, the world chooses your consequences." Here Solomon presents the first positive outlook in the book. Pleasing God brings satisfaction, wisdom, knowledge and joy. 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!"
A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, (Ecc 2:24 NIV). Solomon is not saying that all the other things are not good. They don['t provide this. Satisfaction. Eating and drinking perhaps signify living the daily work of sustaining oneself. Being satisfied with ones work is an elusive thing. In one survey 47 percent of the people said they were satisfied with their occupation. Clergy were the highest at 87 percent. Interestingly 67 percent of psychologists said they were satisfied with their occupation.
Solomon says this is a sovereign gift from God. Any why not? This was the original design according to the Genesis narrative. Man was given the task of keeping the garden and subduing the earth. It was man's original design. It is a gift from God. We all find fulfillment in giving ourselves to a task greater than ourselves.
Verse 25 reads:
for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? (Ecc 2:25 NIV) Solomon brings us to one of the first answers to the meaningless of life. God. Some of you reading this may think of other persons, personalities, beings in this concept but Solomon says that there is a being greater than ourselves that gives meaning to life. Step two in the Twelve steps reads "Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Solomon says that this is the God who gives meaning to life.
Verse 26 reads:
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (Ecc 2:26 NIV) This is a lynch pin to the previous section Solomon is tying the two sections together with the thought of laying up riches to be transferred to those who please God. The latent thought then is one ought to be one who pleases God. For he will reap wealth. Is this a promise? No that as some would have us believe. The reality of life tells us that the righteous suffer and fail also. It is a general principle. How is one pleasing to God. Solomon will tell us in upcoming parts of the book through proverbs how this takes place. But here he has introduced a significant concept. Satisfaction in life comes from pleasing God. God gives to that person not only satisfaction with his work but wisdom, knowledge and happiness. Living wisely, righteously, or however you want to phrase it has to do with a life of recovery from addiction. As addicts we learn how to live differently. Step twelve says "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, (or any other addict) and to practice these principles in all our affairs." We turn our lives over to the care of God and improve conscious contact with Him. We live by the principles of the Twelve Steps. We make amends and continue to do so. I think of this in terms of manging consequences. We can't skirt consequences. We can't deny them we can't medicate them away. We go through them. All the while praying for guidance from God (the wisdom and knowledge mentioned above). I think it was either Pia Melody or Claudia Black that said: "You choose your behaviors, the world chooses your consequences." Here Solomon presents the first positive outlook in the book. Pleasing God brings satisfaction, wisdom, knowledge and joy. 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!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
