“What profit does man
have from all his labor? I have seen the burden
(lit. interest) that the Lord has given to people (lit. sons of man) to be
afflicted by it.” (Ecclesiastes
3:9-10)
King Solomon
again reiterates the foolishness of toiling for ego’s fantasies and illusions
as the burden that divert the true purpose of life. This recurrent warning
calls our attention to focus on where we must invest vitality during our brief
passage in the material world.
It also invites us to evaluate the source and
causes of our afflictions by being mindful enough to differentiate between the
transcendence of goodness and the futility of a useless and unproductive
approach to life. Thus we recognize that goodness is God’s purpose in His
creation, and that evil is the fate of the wicked.
“The Lord has
made everything for His own purpose, also the wicked for the day of evil.” (Proverbs 16:4)
“Evil puts to
death the wicked, and those hating the righteous are condemned.”
(Psalms 34:21)
In this context
we assimilate that knowledge enables our free will to make the right choices, for
without wisdom we are condemned to suffer by our ignorance. Thus we equate ignorance
to affliction, and by knowing the ways of goodness within their ethical frame
we live in the freedom inherent in it. We also realize that our addictions are
our prisons, and their evil our suffering, for evil is their reason and also
their end.
“The world He
has made beautiful in its season. Also that knowledge He has put in their heart
so man doesn’t fathom (lit. find out) the work that the Lord has done from the
beginning to the end. Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good
in all his labor, [for] is the gift of the Lord.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11-12)
Once more we
are warned that God’s creation is beyond our grasp in order for us to fulfill
His will, which is to live by, in and for goodness, because it is God’s gift for us. Theses
verses certainly tell us that goodness is good enough, and there is no need to
transgress against this divine gift by following anything opposite to its ways
and attributes.
“And there you
shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put
your hand to, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.” (Deuteronomy 12:7)
We must
understand that goodness encompasses the purpose of God’s commandments, and our
enjoyment is the purpose of goodness. Thus we constantly realize that God’s
blessings are the ways, attributes, means and end of goodness.
“I know that
whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it or anything
taken from it; and God has done it, that they revere Him.” (Ecclesiastes 3:13)
The transcendence of goodness makes it eternal and
thus we understand its perfection, for there is no lack or deficiency in
goodness. In this awareness we also realize the magnificence of God’s creation,
for which we always revere Him.
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