“Wisdom is goodness
with a heritage, and it is a profit to those who see the sun. For whoever is in
the shade of wisdom is in the shade of money, and the advantage of knowledge is
that wisdom gives life to its possessor.” (Ecclesiastes 7:11-12)
We really become wise when we embrace goodness
as the reason and purpose of life, and also knowing that the ethical principle
in goodness is its heritage and profit. In the ways and attributes of goodness
is our richness in this world, for goodness is the light as we see it in the
sun that sustains life.
Thus we understand that the “shade of money” is
what protects our material sustenance, as a reflection of the goodness that
provides for all our needs. Also, that our wisdom is shaped and defined by
goodness, for there is no wisdom without goodness.
“See God’s work,
for who can straighten out what He made crooked? On a day of good, be among the
good, and on a day of adversity, ponder. God has made one corresponding to the
other, to the end that man will find nothing after Him.” (7:13-14)
The wise king refers us to goodness as God’s
work with which He rules His creation and points out to evil for us to choose
goodness. In this sense, evil can’t be straightened because it was created for
us to boldly contrast goodness against it.
“Is it not from
the mouth of the Most High that both evils and goods go forth?” (Lamentations 3:38)
In goodness we must choose to be goodness, and
in evil we must choose to what we belong. Thus we understand that they oppose (“corresponding”)
each other for us to realize that our consciousness is limited to this in order
to exercise our free will.
“I have seen everything
in the days of my vanity. There is a righteous man who perishes in his
righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his wickedness. Be
not overly righteous, and be not overly wise. Why should you bring desolation
upon yourself? Be not overly wicked, and be not a fool. Why should you die
before your time?”
(Ecclesiastes 7:15-16)
(Ecclesiastes 7:15-16)
Vanity is still
the playground of living according to convenience regardless the duties of
righteousness and justice. This is the predicament of living in ego’s fantasies
and illusions.
The first verse may invite to nihilism and shamelessness by
suggesting that we are prone to die by living in and for goodness, or prone to
embrace wickedness in order to secure a long life.
This does not
mean to choose wickedness as the easy way to live but to find balance in order not
fall into the “gray” areas between good and evil. Although this may be hinted,
clear distinctions remain when we compare black and white.
The veiled message
in these verses is to be aware of the differences, the qualities and traits of
good and evil with their ways and means. In this awareness we acquire the necessary
wisdom to properly and successfully approach life as a learning process aimed
to make goodness prevail.
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