Heart-Less

And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind.  Ecclesiastes 1:16  NJPS

Mind – When were you last in the Garden, standing in front of that Tree?  You know, the one that promises knowledge, that tempts you to think you can decide what is good and what isn’t.  If we pay attention to Koheleth, we might discover that we were there yesterday and we are probably going to be there again today.

Before we see what the Teacher has in mind, we need to clear up some cultural mistranslation.  The Hebrew word translated “mind” in this verse is really lev – heart.  Koheleth doesn’t set his mind to know wisdom.  He sets his heart to know the difference between wisdom and madness.  Why is this important?  Because once we see that the word is lev, we realize that this isn’t an academic, cognitive exercise.  This is a whole-person encounter.  Koheleth determines with all of his personality to know the difference between hokmah and holelut.  Hokmah is more than just information.  It is skill, experience, prudence and proper respect as well as depth in understanding.  Hokmah has a moral behavior element to it.  In Hebrew thought, it isn’t enough to simply know the facts.  To know something is to incorporate it into living experience.  Of course, holelut is just the opposite.  It is the sheer folly, the madness, of attempting to order the world without God.  It is pointless existence.  It is life without meaning.  As Koheleth discovers, it is chasing the wind.

We who follow the King know this to be true, but does that stop us from standing in front of the Tree?  I’m not sure it does.  We think that story about Havvah and the serpent is an ancient one, but I’m here to tell you that it happened yesterday.  When you and I thought that we could decide what is right for us, what is good for us, what is the best choice for us, we held hands with Havvah.  We looked at that Tree and chose to indulge in its aesthetic pleasure, its nourishment and its promise.  We set our hearts to experience the difference between hokmah and holelut for ourselves.  The most important word in Koheleth’s statement is not lev or hokmah or holelut.  It is ani – I set my heart.  The reason all of Koheleth’s efforts end in vapor is that it all begins and ends with him.  Whenever our choices begin and end with us, we are taking a very big bite of the fruit of the Tree.  And the result is inevitable.  Vapor.  Wind.  Nothingness.  Meaninglessness.

Here’s the solution.  God knows what is hokmah and what is holelut.  God tells us what is hokmah and what is holelut.  He communicates what we need to know in order to distinguish between the two.  All He asks is obedience, not insight.  Moving out of vapor into substance doesn’t take more than hinneni – “Here I am, Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Topical Index:  mind, lev, hokmah, holelut, wisdom, madness, Ecclesiastes 1:16