Ecclesiastes, reading, demons, and ambiguity

Something strange has been happening to me lately. I’ve been reading, even as I neglect other “work” I “should” be doing. I started with a really short little book, (83 pages): In Celebration of Wisdom: Life and Meaning in Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes” (2009), edited by Steven Schweitzer. I guess I chose it because it seems work-related. (Think “Mrs. Job”). But something on p. 71, in reference to Ecclesiastes 7:1-18, had the effect of setting me free (at least temporarily):

“Humans are capable of some wisdom, but perfection is beyond their reach. ‘Do not be too righteous’: Qoheleth uses irony to state that excess—even in the area of wisdom—is not a good thing, because it could become an obsession. Given this state of things, the best people can do is to try to acquire the wisdom available and enjoy life while it lasts, especially ‘in the day of prosperity.’ Writing with a subtlety and nuance that encourages us to live our lives fully, facing both good and ill, Qoheleth helps us find a paradoxically off-balance balance in life.”

Maybe it keyed into thoughts around Lou’s recent death, the shortness of life’s journey, and the limitations on what we can do with it. Whatever the process, I found myself perfectly comfortable sitting in the sunshine on my deck reading: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (Paperback - Oct 6, 2009). Fiction, its theme was based on the internment of Japanese citizens during WWII. I loved gobbling up the story, almost as I used to devour reading when I was a child. I also found my resident empathy creating pain over the violence done to these people, even as I admired their strength in maintaining their stalwart devotion to this country. I thought too of my frequent commentary these days that we won’t really understand what’s going on today until we look back in ten or twenty years. (And I do intend to be here to do just that.)

Then today I “yielded” again and finished reading General Tony Zinni and Tony Koltz, Leading the Charge: Leadership Lessons from the Battlefield to the Boardroom. I took away from that a lot of things, but in general the awareness that one cannot afford to be stuck in the ways of the past, or even the present, because the old rules don’t apply now, and most certainly won’t apply in the future. The best we can do (my words, not Zinni’s) is to tolerate the ambiguity and use it to feed our creativity-based activities.

There’s one last piece. The thoughts inspired by this morning’s sermon at Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church about the nature of our personal demons. I think I’ve identified a couple of mine. (1) allowing my empathy to become obsession; (2) that old “thing” that I can’t just sit and read until my “work” is done. And, of course, it is never done.

How should I title this blog? “True confessions?” Oh, but consider the ambiguity of the future. I might not agree with myself at all tomorrow.