The Unbearable Lightness of Being
For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility. Ecclesiastes 3:19 NASB
Fate – In Hebrew, the word miqreh comes from a root that means “the happening and/or occurring of that which is (for the most part) beyond human control.”[1] In particular, “the dilemma of Eccl is heightened by the ostensible meaningless of human accomplishment and overriding control (Prov 16:33) of divine providence (Eccl 2:14; 9:11; 3:19). Ecclesiastes concludes that man the creature should not question but obey the Creator (12:13–14).” [2] In this regard, Ecclesiastes echoes nearly all ancient pagan religions. What goes around, comes around. The endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, or as Disney so inappropriately taught our children, “the circle of life.” What did the ancients conclude? Nothing really matters. We just go around and around—the endless repetition of existence.
Then along came the Jews. Suddenly history mattered. It wasn’t a cycle of eternal return. It was going somewhere, toward a murky goal but in a way that your actions and mine made a difference. What we did or didn’t do changed the outcome. We became responsible, at least partially, for the future.
To think of history as an arena of change is terrifying . . . It means that we have only one life to live; that what happened once may never happen again; that we are embarked on a journey with no assurance that we will ever return to where we began. It is what Milan Kundera meant in his phrase, ‘the unbearable lightness of being.’ Only profound faith—a new kind of faith, breaking with the entire world of ancient mythology—could give people the courage to set out on a journey to the unknown.[3]
lĕk-lekā’
It’s so much easier to live in a world where your actions are swallowed up in infinite time. Your life isn’t even a speck of existence in that grand scheme. What you do really doesn’t make any difference—so, live for today, do what you want, in the end you’re buried along with the lion. And then the Jews messed it all up (well, actually God got involved). The unbearable part of being is that what you do does matter. Your choices affect all the universe. The weight of the future rests on your shoulders. Your mistake, your sins alter everything. Try living with that!
Is it any wonder that Isreal retreated to paganism over and over? Is it surprising that we do the same? Religion is the opiate, dulling us to the reality of human responsibility. We substitute forgiveness for duty, ritual for kavanah. How few of us are able to hear lĕk-lekā’ and respond!
Topical Index: lĕk-lekā’, eternal return, history, responsibility, unbearable lightness of being, Ecclesiastes 3:19
[1] Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., Jr., & Waltke, B. K., eds. (1999). In Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 814). Moody Press.
[2] Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., Jr., & Waltke, B. K., eds. (1999). In Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 814). Moody Press.
[3] Rabb I Jonathan Sacks, Covenant &Conversation: Exodus: the Book of Redemption (Maggid, 2010), p. 66.
