Day 24 "Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow"

“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.”

– [by Shakespeare, in the play Macbeth]

This famous soliloquy tells of Macbeth’s final conclusion on life; life is empty, meaningless, and short. Life has no true substance, and human’s futile strife is but foolish. Sound familiar?

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

What does man gain by all the toil

At which he toils under the sun?”

[Ecclesiastes 1:2-3]

The rest of Ecclesiastes chapter 1 goes on to tell of the repetitive nature of life, coming and going, and never quite filling or satisfying. I heard a speaker in church who gave Solomon a character such as that of an old man on his deathbed, after a life of having everything you could possible want or dream of, and in his last breaths of reflection of his life, realizes that he wasn’t satisfied. In desperation, he grabs on to a young boy sitting by the edge of his bed and begins to pour out his life of regrets and reflections.

I found this first chapter quite interesting; it almost contradicts what Proverbs was just talking about, even though they were both written by the same author, Solomon. Proverbs told of the necessity of wisdom in life, and the destruction of folly. However, now, Solomon says,

“I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom,

surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me,

and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 

And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. 

I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

For in much wisdom is much vexation,

And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”

[Ecclesiastes 1:16-18]

I found these lines very interesting, and asked around for opinions. One of my friends gave me an illustration I found intriguing. She said, “perhaps the Proverbs are like rose stained glass windows. It is theoretically the right answers to all happiness in life (such like “Happiness for Dummies 101”), and it does show the way to wisdom. Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, so he definitely knew all the steps to wisdom. However, Ecclesiastes is more of a reflective view after a life long of experience, an open window to look upon the big picture of life itself. He realized that the little things that we strive so hard for are actually meaningless at the end of life." He had everything, wisdom, women, wealth, success, fame, and everything the world wants. But at the finish line, he didn’t have anything to hope for anymore, and felt as though the life he was leaving behind, seemed no better than a dream, a fleeting memory, a gust of wind.

Also, another person mentioned that God given wisdom and the wisdom of men are two different things. True wisdom begins with the fear of God. Although Solomon had all the wisdom, he turned away from God later in his life, and pursued material delights. This might be a reason to his regrets.

Looking forward to exploring this further in the next readings!

In the busyness of life, one sunset goes by, and then another, and another. Places to go, things to get done, time to work for. Don’t forget to focus on the big picture of what truly matters! Don’t wait till it’s too late.