A View From The Middle

In one of our church experiences in my twenties, I was intrigued by a segment of the congregation a couple decades older than I. They attended fairly regularly, but didn’t seem to have any enthusiasm for things of the Lord. Why did they bother coming? At another church, in my thirties, there was a similar group, the “back row bunch” we called them because of their preferred Sunday morning location, seldom participating with the activities of the fellowship. In each case I later found that these people had formerly been very active in the Lord’s work – church builders, youth workers, pastors, and missionaries. What happened? I sincerely hoped this would not be my own experience.


It is not uncommon to start out well and falter in the middle. Enthusiasm and dreams fly high at the outset, but disillusionment, failures, distractions and fatigue set in long before the end is in sight. In the first miles of our long journeys by road, the distance was quickly gobbled up with readily visible progress. The same was felt near the end as each familiar landmark was reached. But those many hours between seemed to hold us suspended in a half-dream of tedium. A little book in the middle of my Bible speaks to this issue.

WISDOM

The Teacher opens his monologue of “Ecclesiastes” with a discouraging commentary on the pointless repetition of life. “All things are wearisome,” sums it up. He then gives an account of the sort of things we all do to make life work out. He applied himself to learning and acquiring wisdom and understanding. Much of our Christian experience is focused on schools, lessons, teachers, seminars, and books. These may lean towards “how-to” live like a Christian in a given area, or just delve into deeper spiritual mysteries and truths. Maybe if we just discover some new key or method, it will all come together for us. The problem may be, however, that of a student always studying but never getting around to applying it, or a tradesman always preparing his equipment or tools, but never using them. It soon loses its attraction and fulfillment. Despite wisdom being a good thing (7:11) we realize that “despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning.” (8:17). “There is no end to making books” (12:12) and “with much wisdom comes much sorrow.” (1:18)

PLEASURE

If there is no way to fully answer the “Why’s” of life, then what about just squeezing whatever pleasure and satisfaction we can out of it? “I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” (2:1) Jeremiah pictured it as digging your own wells, that won’t hold water, when the Lord has already given us real water. Pleasures can help us feel better for a while, but boredom and enslavement are never far away. “All man’s efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetites are never satisfied.” (6:7) Instead of the popular adage of putting on a happy face, his conclusion is “Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart” (7:3) It reminds me of the Lord’s very unintuitive teaching: How deeply happy are those who mourn!

ACHIEVEMENTS

A strategy that might relate better with mid-lifers is described in 2:4-9, “I undertook great projects… I amassed silver and gold.” If life seems meaningless and relationships fall apart, then I’ll just do more of what I do well. Not only does this keep us busy and produce some visible results, but it also brings some degree of pleasure and usually causes others to think well of us. As we give up on dreaming about what we’re going to be when we grow up, we start to think more often about our retirement, what am I going to do when I don’t have to work any more? All the stuff and “silver and gold” we can accumulate does give us a sense of security if we don’t think too much about the Rich Fool in Luke 12. Despite the enticement of what it would be like to win the lottery, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” (5:10) So when the Teacher surveyed all that his hands had done and he had toiled to achieve, he was left with that nagging emptiness that “everything was meaningless, a chasing after wind.” (2:11)

"I HATED LIFE"

Somewhere the realization hits us, “I can’t take it with me.” Finally it’s all gone anyway (2:17-18). And we feel tired. “What a burden God has placed on men!” (1:13, 3:10) Though not likely to the same degree, we have tasted some of the things the Teacher laboured for: leisure time, money, security, knowledge, power. And we have also felt some of the negatives –loss of optimism, motivation, enthusiasm, and touch with what’s “in”. Our expectations have been lowered; we wonder if we will have made a difference, or if it matters. We might ask, “What about ‘Me’?”

WHAT THEN?

How do we accept reality without cynicism? How do we have our illusions shattered without being disabled by “dis-illusionment”? The Teacher concludes with the anti-climactic, “Fear God and keep his commands” (12:13). A few things have helped me with this. I have to go back and re-examine the foundations. What is true? What do I believe? Why? What are the alternatives? Since God and His Word are true, I am not afraid to hold any other philosophy up against it and see what stands. Is my believing a matter of analyzing and accepting facts about Jesus, or is it trusting in Him? It’s easier to trust in things we can handle – knowledge, methods, systems, pleasures, achievements, wealth. God is invisible. The Lord Jesus is “not a tame lion” as Lewis noted. Do I really trust Him to be “good”? I am more aware of time as a non-renewable resource. It’s interesting to read chapter 3 with the thought that “There is time for…” whatever activity the Lord needs us to do. Am I a healthy functioning organ in The Body? By midlife the time is past for having a vague notion about sometime getting around to what needs doing. While we are always students as Christians, if we aren’t doing what we already know, then we aren’t really students. While we will never be arrived (see Phil.3:12) until we are resurrected, we can check our direction now. Like on the long road trip, it is worth reviewing the map once in a while to make sure we are going the right direction on the right road. Then we can enjoy the view and see that “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (3:11). -philw