Saturday, August 27, 2011

Sheer Koheleth, the Song of Ecclesiastes

I got into a conversation last night that drifted into a discussion of the book of Ecclesiastes.  The hour was late and we weren't able to finish our talk.

When I was in seminary, and had finished my mandatory Hebrew classes, I decided to take an Old Testament course that would focus on using Hebrew to study a book of the Old Testament.  I was a little dismayed when I realized by only choice at that time was a study of Ecclesiastes, which at the time I considered a really depressing book.  I am always a little startled when people tell me how much they like the book of Ecclesiastes, and I am also a little suspicious that most of what they have actually read in the book is the part that made it into the folksong:  "For everything...there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven."

But I have also learned over time that if I am willing to take the time to deeply study almost any part of the Bible, it will become meaningful to me.  As I studied Ecclesiastes, I came to feel that it forms a kind of counterpart to the book of Job.  In Job, the problem is the suffering of innocent people, and the ultimate answer is when Job experiences God, and is satisfied by that.  In Ecclesiastes, the problem is the search for answers of the intellectual, and just as Job does not give a simple answer, the author of Ecclesiastes also does not find easy answers to his questions. He complains, among other things, that God has set eternity into the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11),and he calls this a burden (3:10).  Ultimately, he concludes with

Now all has been heard;
     here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
     for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
     including every hidden thing,
     whether it is good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

As I studied Ecclesiastes , I found that in addition to summarizing my work in a mandatory academic paper, I wanted to try my hand at expressing its essence in this song, which I called Sheer Koheleth.  Koheleth is the name of Ecclesiastes in Hebrew.  It means "The Gatherer" or "The Assemblyman" or "The Preacher" or "Teacher" or "Scribe".  In other words, we're not entirely sure exactly what it means.  It's what the author of Ecclesiastes called himself.  Traditionally, that person has been understood to be Solomon.  Sheer is, of course, an English word that means pretty much "just", but Sheer or Shir is the Hebrew word for Song.

One of the most famous phrases of Ecclesiastes "vanity of vanities" in the King James Bible, or "Meaningless! Everything is meaningless" in the NIV, is a metaphor that in its literal meaning is about the steam that rises off a pot.  I toyed at one point with translating it as "It's all a lot of hot air," but I wound up with the chorus of this song.  This then, is Sheer Koheleth or the Song of Ecclesiastes, and it is my attempt to loosely translate what I understand to be the central message of this book.  Most of the lines are colloquial translations of something in the book.


Sheer Koheleth


What does life mean? It has to mean something.
I set my heart to discover life's "why"
This was my task to look for the meaning
I tried, and I tried. but my answer was this:

I have focused on fog
I've mastered the mist
All my achievements are smoke in my fist
They slip through my fingers
I've been chasing the wind
And it adds up to nothing,
Again and again.

I tried doing good. I tried owning treasure.
No matter how much, it was never enough.
I drank to the dregs life's passions and pleasure,
But wisdom and folly ended like this:

As I look around I see pain and oppression
Sometimes life's fair, but often it's not
More things are bent than one man can straighten
All my best plans were diminished to this.

As you go through life you might as well cherish
Each day that comes, every season God gives.
Knowing in time that all things will perish.
Still joy is God's gift, though it comes back to this:

So this was my task, to look for the meanings,
God planted eternity deep in my soul.
Though under the sun all is empty and aimless
I'm left with awe and the fear of the Lord.

And God isn't fog
God isn't the mist
The one thing that's certain
The one thing that's fixed
Before the beginning
And after the end
My answers lie hidden
In the palm of His hand.





Friday, August 19, 2011

Traveling Princess

This song doesn't have particularly popular images for this day and age, nor is it formed with a great deal of craft. It's something of a hodge-podge of images from Scripture that are valuable to me right now.  I share it here because this is very much a "windmill song"--one that useful in my life for making the images and phrases go deeper into my own heart.  It's a battle cry against darkness, and a promise to keep moving.   It's my own cry for this moment in time--but perhaps some day it may find relevance for others.  I added links to some of the relevant scriptures, mostly as an exercise for myself.

Traveling Princess
I am a child of the King
I am a child of the King
I am a blood-bought daughter of the Living God
I am a child of the King
Well, in the Valley of Trouble
There's a Door of Hope
And my Savior will help me find that way
He is my shield and shelter on that narrow path
He watches over me both night and day.

Well, there’s a road to the Kingdom
and it runs through my heart
I’m walking on that pilgrim way
Though there may be some crying on that desert road
There will be streams in the desert


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Blooming

Quite a few years ago, a man who knew quite a bit about both God and me told me, "Because you are not a rose or a daisy, you think you are not a flower." Recently, struggling once again with the issues of being someone who doesn't fit the patterns I see around me, I was reminded of the comment. I suspect I am not the only person who struggles with this problem.



Blooming


I may not be a rose or a daisy
Or like any other flower that I've known
I am still a flower in God's garden
An offering to be laid before His throne.


I will bloom where I'm planted
I will bloom in God's time
My petals are unfolding
Displaying God's reason and rhyme.


The pathway that is laid straight before me
May not be the pathway for you
But my Shepherd knows just where He wants me
He knows what it will take to bring me through


I will bloom where I'm planted
I will bloom in God's time
My petals are unfolding
Displaying God's reason and rhyme.


I may not be a rose or a daisy
Or like any other flower that I've known
I am still a flower in God's garden
An offering to be laid before His throne.