The Glorious Grave

Then I accounted those who died long since more fortunate than those who are still living. Ecclesiastes 4:2 JPS

Fortunate – Take a hard look at life! A very hard look. Without your continued hope in God, wouldn’t you have to agree with Solomon? Those who have already died are finished with all this injustice, chaos, disappointment, suffering and betrayal. Their race is over. Now they have some peace. Solomon isn’t the only one who came to this conclusion. Theognis penned a similar remark:

Best of all for mortal beings is never to have been born at all

Nor ever to have set eyes on the bright light of the sun

But, since he is born, a man should make utmost haste through the gates of Death

And then repose, the earth piled into a mound round himself.[1]

Are these assessments too negative? It’s true that we do our best to be optimistic (“in spite of our better judgment”), but a really hard look at human history is no less consoling. Millions upon millions have suffered and died, even at the hands of the religious. To what end? Has the world radically improved? Is life better for the 2.5 billion who live on less than one dollar a day? If Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, don’t you suppose he was also the most broken, the most shattered, the one who saw most clearly just how desperate humanity is? It’s enough to want to die and be done with it all.

Qohelet uses the Hebrew word shabah in the translation “fortunate.” One form of the root means, “to be free of care.” That seems to fit quite nicely. But the other form means, “to praise,” and is used of praising God. Interesting. Can it be that the dead, being free of the cares of life, are a praise to God because they are dead? They no longer experience the injustice of life. Their toil is over. They have found rest. Does this include the idea that God has finally given them justice? It seems as if this teacher’s view of living is completely absorbed in dying. For him, death is the only way out of a world of sorrow and pain.

Of course, the Bible attempts to rescue this deep nihilism. Ecclesiastes adds the last two verses. Love God and do the commandments. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to enjoy a few moments with your spouse, eat enough food not to be hungry today and see a smile on a child’s face. If you’re lucky! Otherwise it’s pretty much about those sparks that fly upward.[2] Except—

Except, there is a God who loves what He creates, and cares about us. There is a reason to hope, not in some reward after we die but in a purpose for living now. There is divine involvement in spite of all the mess. There are kairos moments in the tragic chronology. There is joy even in pain. There is something about being human that draws us beyond the observable—that stretches us to touch a world where the sparks don’t always fly upward. Certainly there is no consolation for the loss of Job’s children, but there is YHVH. Look around you with another set of eyes. Look past Solomon’s artificial container and see if you can’t find rumors of another world. Today might just be a “why bother” day, but faith is perseverance even when the dead seem more fortunate. So persevere—and see what happens.

Topical Index: fortunate, Ecclesiastes 4:2, shabah, death

[1] Theognis of Megara, Greek poet of 6th century BCE.

[2] Job 5:7