Too Much Honey

Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind — Ecclesiastes 2:17

Vanity: Absurdity, Frustration, Futility and Nonsense.

I have a confession to make: reading Ecclesiates is a kind of guilty pleasure for me. I read what the Preacher has to say, and I feel a kinship to women who sneak white-chocolate-and-macadamia-nut cookies or guys who watch La Femme Nikita. I get just a little tired of being positive and upbeat all the time. Sometimes I get a hankering for grit and grim realism. Just give it to me straight.

The preponderance of scholarship suggests that Solomon himself wrote Ecclesiastes. If he didn't write it, he was certainly the inspiration for it. It was good to be the king. He started out asking for wisdom. He built the temple. His wisdom and devotion to God gave him great wealth, prestige, and power. He was admired, even revered, not just by his own people, but by the aristocracy of other nations. All that he could desire was at his fingertips. It was almost as if he could have or do anything he could imagine. Indications are that he initially lived with some restraint. Because of the value he placed on wisdom, he sought knowledge and understanding. He delved into the esoteric. But the more knowledge he acquired, the more his sorrow increased.

How could a wise, discerning, and devout man like Solomon ever come to the point of saying, "I hated life"?

And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived this also is grasping for the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow (Ecclesiastes 1:17-18).

What is hidden from most of us lay open and exposed to Solomon. Yet his wisdom remained with him, and he was able to see the futility of it. I wonder sometimes if humans are really made for overwhelming success. How can you possibly prepare to get what you want, all you want, any time you want? Failure and distress and lack we seem to be able to deal with well enough, especially when mixed with the occasional rewarding experience. On the other hand, when everything falls into our hands, many of us fall apart. The reality of life as "grasping for the wind" is driven home by the emptiness of "money for nothing" and "easy easy chicks for free", and a way must be found to placate the sense of sorrow and grief that accompanies that pain.

Ricky Nelson died in a fiery plane crash on his way to a show in Dallas on December 31, 1985. A rumor circulated shortly afterward that the fire had been caused by Nelson freebasing cocaine - with a result somewhat similar to Richard Pryor's earlier imitation of the Human Torch. Freebasing was most likely not the cause of the fire. The plane was a forty-year-old DC-3 with a history of cabin heater issues and the crew had tried unsuccessfully to start the heater several times before the fire erupted. The rumor about freebasing arose from the fact that Nelson had a long history of cocaine use, and the autopsy showed traces of the drug in his system. I heard his twin sons relating the story of their father's death. They explained the details of the plane's mechanical issues and cabin heater malfunction, and they denied that the fire had been started as a result of a freebasing accident. They rather cavalierly dismissed the cocaine in Rick's system with words to the effect that he was a rock and roll singer so of course he did drugs.

Why does being a rock star excuse drug use? Rock stars are somewhat like kings. Despite what Mick and Keith said, popular culture idols can pretty well get what they want. In that, they are often like Solomon without the wisdom. Of course, in the developed world, and especially in America, the majority of us have more than we need. We are often able, if only vicariously, to "know madness and folly". Our grasping for the wind is revealed to us, but we find ways to close our eyes, to hide the truth from ourselves.

It's true that no one can catch the wind. It's also true that "the wind blows where it wishes". We hear the sound of it, but we cannot tell from where it comes or to where it is going. We cannot grasp the wind, but the wind can have an effect on us. We can be caught by it, by God's Spirit of Grace. If we are willing to leave all of our artifacts and attachments behind, we might even be caught up to heaven in a whirlwind.