At which he toils under the sun? (1:3)
The Protestant work ethic pervades so many success stories. Too often, either vocational training or entrepreneurship training, or both, fail to have the desired effect. Then someone looks deeper into the underlying attitudes and superstitions of the trainees. The phrase “colonization of the mind” suggests that some people really believe (perhaps subconsciously) that they cannot compete. Or their work ethic has been undermined by a sense of entitlement.
This was a busy week at C4L. Another NGO called Phakamani rented the facility to train its own staff for 5 days. A round table of member groups of our provincial youth organizations forum was held for 2 days. 20 high school learners are boarding on campus for a year. So we had 30 - 40 guests at every meal! What does man gain from all this labor? Indeed.
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless (1:12)
At the time that Ecclesiastes was written, most work was done under the sun. The Industrial Revolution had not arrived yet, nor the Productivity Revolution ushered in by Frederick Taylor in the 20th century. Solomon had no air conditioning or elevator music. It is as hard to square the Protestant work ethic with this Old Testament classic, as it is to reconcile the hopes and dreams of the Africa Power and Light Company to the notion that everything under the sun is meaningless! But then Solomon had never heard of terms like photo-voltaic or photo-thermal. We see what is done under the sun as optimistic – not absurd!
Thami and Sibusiso have just completed their Assessor training. Last month they did their Facilitator training, so they are now able to both train other youth and sign the graduation certificates. This follows on from their technical training last year, as Plumber and Solar Technician respectively. C4L is now “fit for service” to provide accredited training to youth . The first Solar Technician course starts February 21st and the first Plumbers course on Feb 28th. Walk with us! This is not meaningless, it is pro-poor and environmentally friendly!
And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment – wickedness was there
In the place of justice – wickedness was there (3:16)
Even the church does not escape this penetrating insight. In one chapter of Revelation, it is called a harlot. That is wickedness. But many church-goers will be surprised to hear the Bridegroom say “Depart from me”. Along with that Protestant work ethic came a pretty deep suspicion of pleasure! Puritanism collided with hedonism. Gnosticism reared its head again with an over-emphasis on spirituality – at the expense of the physical (including the arts, liturgical worship - especially sacred dance - and the deception that “sex is dirty”).
This week C4L sent an appeal to a dozen church organizations to help fund a poster campaign. I was bewildered by the diverse reactions. One reply questioned whether that was even ministry. Another ordered 85 posters – one for each church in their denomination!
Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun (4:1)
The poster has a back-wash photo of Jimmy Mohlala, one of those local leaders who paid the ultimate price in what the press is now calling “the January murders”. At the top of the poster is written “17 Reasons to Demand Transparency”. Then comes a litany of the 17 names, by year, from 1998 to 2011. At the bottom it reads: “Good leadership is not possible without good leaders”. May the winds of Egypt blow to Mpumalanga!
Again I saw something meaningless under the sun
There was a man all alone
He had neither son nor brother
There was no end to his toil
Yet his eyes were not content with his wealth
“For whom am I toiling?” he asked
“and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” (4:7-8)
This reminded me of The Giving Pledge. Billionaires no longer need to toil, they need to enjoy being well off! A new layer has been added to the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualization is no longer the most sophisticated need. It is: giving back, saying Thanks.
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
Wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner (5:13)
The corollary of that new layer in Maslow’s hierarchy is that hoarding wealth can be hazardous to your health. I wouldn’t know! But I can tell you that emptying yourself out for other people is scary as hell – but my health is bearing up!
There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. (8:14)
There is a jazz club in Maputo called Shithappens. That might serve as a paraphrase title for Ecclesiastes? Fine citizens like Jimmy Mohlala get gunned down in their own back yards while dictators like Mubarak get 30 years at the helm. C.S. Lewis would have called it “nonsensical” but the writer of Ecclesiastes is much more solar!
Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun (9:9)
This one hurt most. Could this explain why the church seems to peddle Divorce as the holy way past a broken marriage? Brought to you by the makers of the Protestant work ethic and Puritans Against Hedonism. It is not the Christian way, and certainly not the African way.
Contentment
I made a short list of some things that are not new under the sun, but as good as ever:
- Bread and butter
- Cold mineral water
- A spectacular sunset
- Sitting beside a fire in the dark
- Reading a psalm
- Swimming on a hot summer day
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