Commentary on Ecclesiastes 11:9—12:8

Today we come to the end of our selections from this book. Even in translation, one can see the poetry of the passage. Again, it can be read in a very pessimistic way, or with a sense of realism. The reading deals with the inevitability of old age and what it brings.

In Jewish tradition, going back to the book of Deuteronomy, long life was seen as a reward promised by God, and the greatest blessing given to those who had led good lives. However, for Qoheleth, old age is not happiness but the fear of death, regrets for one’s younger days, the slowing-down of life, and a painful slowing down before “the dust returns to the earth as it was”.

So he begins by urging the young to enjoy their lives while they still have the energy and vigour to do so. As the poet Robert Herrick says, “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may!” The young are told to:

Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes…

But there’s a the caveat that some day:

…for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

But there seems to be a mixed signal when he tells them to:

Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

For such a carefree and hedonistic life is in fact highly deceptive. They are told:

Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”…

The wise young person will be mindful of the Creator while there is still time. For the days are coming when:

…the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain…

This is perhaps describing the weakening sight and cataracts that come with aging.

There follows then a sad but moving description of old age when:

…strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working…

…and the sound of the grinding is low [hearing difficulties arise]…

…when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road [difficulty walking]…

Yet, while all that is happening, life continues with never-ending normality:

the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper bud falls…

But, inexorably we move towards our “eternal home” in the bosom of the earth.

Already the mourners are getting ready to see us off, awaiting the moment:

…before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.

These are all poetic ways of describing the ultimate return to the earth of the dust from which we came.

Finally, the Teacher closes his message using the same words with which he opened his book: “Vanity of vanities…all is vanity.”

Yet, as the Jerusalem Bible comments:

“…while the book ends with the same words with which it began, in between it has covered much ground. It reminds us of our wretchedness and powerlessness but also of our greatness, by showing us that there is something greater beyond the world in which we live. It points us in the direction of the God who is above and beyond all that we can experience. It incites the reader to disinterested religion and to that kind of prayer in which a creature, aware of its nothingness, adores the mystery of God.”

Vanity, or meaninglessness, is not the last word.

It is possible to feel depressed on reading this book, but that is not its ultimate purpose and certainly not the intention of those who chose these readings for the liturgy.

Underneath the apparent negativity and cynicism is the deep truth of the transitoriness and fragility of all existence, and the importance of our using well the time—long or short—that has been given to us and, through the joys and pains that make up every life, finding God’s love and compassion there. Life is to be enjoyed but with the realisation that, on this earth, it has a very definite end for each individual.

Underneath it all, one is reminded of the great ‘Contemplation to Attain the Love of God’ which concludes the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola.  In four steps, the one doing the Exercises is urged to be aware of:

1. the blessings of creation and redemption with which one is surrounded;
2. how God is present in every level of creation, bringing it to its destined fulfilment;
3. how God works for me through every created thing, including his Son Jesus Christ; and finally,
4. how reflection and contemplation on all of this brings me to the very Source of everything:  

   For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

   ‘For we, too, are his offspring.’(Acts 17:28)

To be united with that Source is my final Destiny and I can say with Paul:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)