Title: Living Under the Sun
Today's Witness of the Word was titled “Living under the sun”. In the New Standard Version we read today, the literal translation of the Hebrew word for “this world” is “under the sun”. In the old Hebrew worldview, the sun rises to the highest point, so ‘under the sun’ probably means this world. So, the Standard New Translation paraphrased “this world” in an easy-to-understand way, and the Joint Translation also slightly paraphrased it and translated it as “under the heavens”. On the other hand, the King James Version used the literal translation of “under the sun” as it is. I used the expression “under the sun” according to the translation of the King James Version. So the elusive title of “living under the sun” simply means “living in this world” after all.
A week has already passed since 2006. A year is usually 52 weeks, so 1/52 of the new year 2006 has already passed. The year 2006 is now 51/52 left. Will this year pass as quickly as last year? Time seems to go by so quickly. Although I am very young, the words of adults who say “time passes like an arrow” come closer to me more and more realistically as the annual rings increase.
A few days ago, I opened the Bible while preparing the Testimony of the Word. I just opened my eyes and looked at it, but it was the book of Ecclesiastes, especially today's message. So I started reading the Bible on my own again. I read it once. As I slowly read the words, I thought of this. “It’s a very inappropriate word for someone who is celebrating the new year.”
Wouldn't it be difficult to say this to someone who is about to welcome the new year after an old year full of ups and downs? “What has been will be again in the future, and what has already happened will happen again in the future. … The past will be forgotten, and the generations to come will not be remembered by the generations to come.”
Wouldn't it sound like a heartbreaking story that is far from the hope of the new year? It didn't seem any different from saying that no matter how hard you have to live with hope, it's all there. In addition, if you raise your eyes a little, you will see the famous saying that sits right at the beginning of the book of Ecclesiastes. “In vain and in vain. in vain and in vain All is vanity” (1:2).
People usually have hope as they welcome the new year. Unlike last year, I hope that the new year will bring more joy and hope to the year. I hope you have a more healthy year. I hope that I will be able to achieve something more and grow in my work, school, or society. If you made mistakes and mistakes last year, you want to avoid repeating them in the new year. I hope in my heart that the economic situation of this land will improve, that the poor will get better, and that the suffering people will enjoy more peace. Furthermore, I pray that war and hunger will end and peace will come to this world.
As we call it a ‘new year’ or a new year, we hope that the coming year will be a new year different from the previous one. This must be the mindset of many people, including myself, for the new year.
However, the writer of Ecclesiastes says that these “thoughts of wanting to get better”, “desires to change anew” and “hopes to progress” seem to be far from these. “What has been will be again in the future, and what has already happened will happen again in the future. There is nothing new in this world. Is there anything that can be said, ‘Look, this is the new one’?”
As I have already said, while reading today's text, at first I thought, "This is a very inappropriate word for people who are welcoming the new year." But after reading it a few more times, I started thinking differently. I started to think, “I am still young, but some people may have the same thoughts as Ecclesiastes as they approach the new year.”
According to the record of Ecclesiastes, it seems that the ‘wise man’ who wrote Ecclesiastes compiled this writing at the end of his life. The wise man probably had a fairly high rank, wealth, and learning. A person who has everything they need to have, tried everything they could do, and had an abundance of things to study.
Abundance and optimism may paradoxically provoke a denial of abundance and pessimism. In Western modern history, after the Enlightenment reached its peak, romanticism with pessimism prevailed, and in the United States and European countries that achieved high economic growth, the even counter-civilized hippie culture flourished in the 1960s and 1970s .
There are many advantages of abundance and prosperity, leisure and stability that we often desire, but it may be because the mysterious existence of human beings cannot be satisfied with them alone. As human beings are religious beings with a spiritual dimension, we may be aware of the shady valleys created by the high mountains where abundance, prosperity, leisure and security build up. It seems that the sense of disappointment that comes after running hard to achieve something, and the fundamental question of whether humans really have to work hard for achievement and prosperity. Just as Siddhartha, who was unaware of his shortcomings as a prince of a country, abandoned everything and crossed the wall and set out on a path of pain and loneliness. Those who can sympathize with the words Jesus said at the time of His temptation, “Man does not live by bread alone,” may feel the same way as the writer of Ecclesiastes when looking back on the past year and looking forward to the new year.
That is why the wise man says: “People cannot express in words that all things are exhausted. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, and the ear is not satisfied with hearing.” (1:8) Isn't this alarming to the human effort that harbors the desire for eyes not satisfied with seeing no matter how much and ears not satisfied with hearing no matter how much.
This kind of thinking seems to be common among elderly people who have accumulated years of experience. Those who have experienced the successes and failures of life in one way or another through decades of experience must have gained insight after years of experience and reflection.
However, this reflection on Ecclesiastes does not seem to lead to nihilism and pessimism. It is difficult for me to understand and express, but it seems to be something different from ordinary nihilism and pessimism. No matter how much you shout in vain, even if you say that everything that happens in the world is just a chasing after the wind, what Ecclesiastes says is not true vain and pessimism.
As if the indisputable topic of “mountain is mountain and water is water” went through the affirmation “mountain is mountain and water is water” and negation “mountain is not mountain and water is not water”, all stereotypes, prejudices, and projected After brushing off desires, we reach a new stage of affirmation by accepting and affirming the existence of mountains and water as they are, saying, “Mountains are mountains and water is water.” In the end, just as the words of Ecclesiastes lead to realization of the reality of the world and existence, the words of Ecclesiastes It looks negative and pessimistic, and says, “What is life? It may sound like a resignation-style grumbling, "I'm just living." But if you look a little more slowly and deeply, it might be the same as a topic of discussion to make you realize what it's like to live under the sun, and what it's like to live in this world.
I thought that the book of Ecclesiastes was the wise man's shock therapy to make him realize that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't run the world on his own terms and his expectations, and that he couldn't adjust God like a vending machine to his wishes and expectations will do
It seems to be trying to say that it is God, not man, who truly runs the world under the sun, and that it is God, not man, who opens the future of the world under the sun.
That is why we humans say that living under the sun, living in this world, is to abandon the greed of the Tower of Babel to create the world according to our wishes, expectations, and our morals, customs, and values, and to acknowledge that God is in control of this world. I wonder if that was the writing strategy of the writer of Ecclesiastes.
After thinking like this, I came to think that today's verse from Ecclesiastes may be well suited to those who welcome the new year. Of course, we still do not understand the deep meaning of the word. I'm just hoping that as time goes on we'll find out more.
As I read the words of Ecclesiastes that did not seem to fit at all in this time of passing the last year and welcoming the new year, my thoughts came to this point. Looking back on the past year, what are the things to reflect on, and what are the real hopes to have in the new year? . Maybe the reflections and hopes are nothing more than a projection of my desires, or is it not just a defense of the value system and customs that our society has and that sometimes acts as violence to some, and furthermore, God's peace and God I will look back at my own New Year's hopes and wishes to see if I am borrowing the sacred ornament of justice and putting on the desires of my society and myself.
Paul said, “If I am in Christ, I am a new creation,” and I hope that I too will become a new creation so that I can throw away my desires, desires, stereotypes and habits, and see the world under the sun with God’s eyes and God’s heart I beg you. Perhaps that is the way to truly live well under the sun.