The Teacher, author of Ecclesiastes, now turns his thinking to the meaninglessness of all the oppression that takes place in our world.
“I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comfort;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter. (Ecclesiastes 4:1)”
“And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (Ecclesiastes 4: 4)”
The Teacher notes that the foolish are too lazy to work, not wanting to disturb their own peace, and yet those who work are often motivated by envy. He concludes that this cycle is also meaningless. There does seem to be a spectrum of motivation to work that runs from a lazy, I don’t care about anything attitude, to a greedy, envious desire to possess more and more. One person is satisfied with little effort while the other is never satisfied. A valid question is raised here. What motivates me to reach out beyond my comfort zone?
As a new widow who is reinventing life, I realize I don’t get out of bed in the morning to get a cup of coffee for my husband, jump in the shower to rush off to work, hustle children to school, nor plan to grab a moment with a friend as I look at my busy social calendar. Being busy has been a way of life and so retirement and widowhood are a major change of pace. Being in school years ago structured my life and then I graduated. The birth of a child, a move to a new home, town or job, or even a medical diagnosis can throw us into a restructuring to our time. We may not know oppression but we do need to be aware of the forces motivating us.
I am reading the book The Four Winds that talks about how a family is upturned by the dust bowl years. It is heart wrenching. In the face of the oppression from nature, from the rich, from poverty the mother and her two children hold themselves together as “the explorers club,” moving from Texas to California, from comfortable farmers to immigrant laborers, and battle envy just to stay alive. Let us take a moment to look at our hearts to ask what motivates our busy life styles. Where we are envious, Lord forgive. Where we are insensitive to the needs of others, Lord forgive. Lord have mercy on those struggling to survive in relief camps and those ravaged by wars and natural catastrophies. Lord, have mercy. May we never be too lazy to help someone in need.
On the Way to Wonder 