Book of Ecclesiastes
Chapter 1
1. The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2. Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher," vanities of vanities! All is vanity, 3. What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 1 to 3)
Oh God my Father the teacher is hundred percent correct. The world teaches us to do more work, and more work to reach the goal of having more and more money, in order to be self-sufficient and not to depend on others. However, in doing so we spend more time at work, than with each other and most important with You in praise and worship! Gradually we are losing the real aim of life, that of acknowledging you as our one and only true God and to live according to Your will.
4. A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5. The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hurries to the place where it rises. 6. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north round and round goes the wind and on its circuits the wind returns. 7. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow.
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 4 to 7)
Oh God my Father You have given a course of nature to all that exists on earth, even to humans, who have both a beginning and a so called end, for at the end of our life on earth we have a new beginning without an end in Your presence. All the things of the earth reach some end, however You and Your Word remain forever Amen.
8. All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. 9. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 8 to 9)
Oh God my Father, for some of us, there exists no satisfaction, the more we have the more we want, however nothing can fill our emptiness, because there is nothing new in the world. When I give a toy to my 8 year old daughter that she says she really wants and that she cannot live without, for the present moments she is happy with it, but after some time it will end up in the toy box among the other aspirations that she had, and maybe just maybe one day she will return back to find it and play with it. Moreover, even in our ways some of us are not ready to evaluate our ways of living and end up closing the doors on new opportunities.
Above all at times we are happy with holding You in our minds as being the 'baby Jesus' of Christmas which we can place in a box and stow away until next year, or stick to what was passed on to us during catechism classes instead of opening our lives to making a better experience of You Amen.
10. Is there a thing of which it is said "See, this is new"? It has already been in the ages before us, 11. The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 10 to 11)
It is true oh God my Father that there is nothing new, for even though many years have passed since the time of creation we still remain the sinners of long ago. The sins that they had made, we are still doing them with refined techniques, however sin will always be sin and grace and love of God will also be the same in the sense that it is always there a free offer for us to either choose to accept or refuse. Amen.
12. I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, 13. applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. 14. I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 12 to 14)
Oh God my Father You are the teacher and I am the student. I am ready and willing to receive all that You are ready to share with me and apply it in life and share it with others, so that we may all be channels of Your Wisdom Amen. You are aware of all our projects, plans, agendas and manifestos and You know which of them will be for the good of humanity and which will end up in folly and disgrace. I pray that all my projects will be done according to Your will and obtain Your blessings on all that we do Amen.
15. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. 16. I said to myself, "I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge." 17. And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I percieved that this also is but a chasing after wind. 18. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 15 to 18)
Oh God my Father, one of the accusations that some people accuse me of is that of not being aware of what is going on in my world. This is because I do not watch television. However when asking the viewers what is left in their hearts and mind after viewing the media the answer is images of violence, drug abuse, wars, films encouraging one sin after another, and maybe now and again a spiritual event that is featured in the news. Once the awareness is raised one starts becoming one with such images and our emotions become stimulated, and often one says:
'It would have had been much better I had not been aware of such things, I was much happier before!
Oh God my Father I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:
Oh God my Father, I thank You for all the knowledge that You have given me, for all the skills that You have exposed me too in many areas. I pray for teachers for they have also been blessed with knowledge and also with the vocation of teaching it as it is. However, I also pray that the knowledge of the world does not try to suffocate the knowledge of the Kingdom of God. May we base our lives not solely on science that gives us much knowledge but also on the Word of God which is that knowledge that has its origins from the purest of sources, that is You my God and Father Amen.
4. A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5. The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hurries to the place where it rises. 6. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north round and round goes the wind and on its circuits the wind returns. 7. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow.
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 4 to 7)
Oh God my Father You have given a course of nature to all that exists on earth, even to humans, who have both a beginning and a so called end, for at the end of our life on earth we have a new beginning without an end in Your presence. All the things of the earth reach some end, however You and Your Word remain forever Amen.
8. All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. 9. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 8 to 9)
Oh God my Father, for some of us, there exists no satisfaction, the more we have the more we want, however nothing can fill our emptiness, because there is nothing new in the world. When I give a toy to my 8 year old daughter that she says she really wants and that she cannot live without, for the present moments she is happy with it, but after some time it will end up in the toy box among the other aspirations that she had, and maybe just maybe one day she will return back to find it and play with it. Moreover, even in our ways some of us are not ready to evaluate our ways of living and end up closing the doors on new opportunities.
Above all at times we are happy with holding You in our minds as being the 'baby Jesus' of Christmas which we can place in a box and stow away until next year, or stick to what was passed on to us during catechism classes instead of opening our lives to making a better experience of You Amen.
10. Is there a thing of which it is said "See, this is new"? It has already been in the ages before us, 11. The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 10 to 11)
It is true oh God my Father that there is nothing new, for even though many years have passed since the time of creation we still remain the sinners of long ago. The sins that they had made, we are still doing them with refined techniques, however sin will always be sin and grace and love of God will also be the same in the sense that it is always there a free offer for us to either choose to accept or refuse. Amen.
12. I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, 13. applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. 14. I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 12 to 14)
Oh God my Father You are the teacher and I am the student. I am ready and willing to receive all that You are ready to share with me and apply it in life and share it with others, so that we may all be channels of Your Wisdom Amen. You are aware of all our projects, plans, agendas and manifestos and You know which of them will be for the good of humanity and which will end up in folly and disgrace. I pray that all my projects will be done according to Your will and obtain Your blessings on all that we do Amen.
15. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. 16. I said to myself, "I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge." 17. And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I percieved that this also is but a chasing after wind. 18. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.
(Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 verses 15 to 18)
Oh God my Father, one of the accusations that some people accuse me of is that of not being aware of what is going on in my world. This is because I do not watch television. However when asking the viewers what is left in their hearts and mind after viewing the media the answer is images of violence, drug abuse, wars, films encouraging one sin after another, and maybe now and again a spiritual event that is featured in the news. Once the awareness is raised one starts becoming one with such images and our emotions become stimulated, and often one says:
'It would have had been much better I had not been aware of such things, I was much happier before!
Oh God my Father I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:
Oh God my Father, I thank You for all the knowledge that You have given me, for all the skills that You have exposed me too in many areas. I pray for teachers for they have also been blessed with knowledge and also with the vocation of teaching it as it is. However, I also pray that the knowledge of the world does not try to suffocate the knowledge of the Kingdom of God. May we base our lives not solely on science that gives us much knowledge but also on the Word of God which is that knowledge that has its origins from the purest of sources, that is You my God and Father Amen.
