The Sweet Light of Life

Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for a person to see the sun. So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many – all that is about to come is obscure. Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes, but know that God will judge your motives and actions. Banish emotional stress from your mind. and put away pain from your body; for youth and the prime of life are fleeting (Ecclesiastes 11:7-10).

Life under the sun will not endure forever. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Throughout Ecclesiastes 1:1-11:6 the Preacher meditated upon the hevel of life under the sun: all is vain, futile – truly absurd. He compares most human endeavors toward meaning as “chasing after wind”: people pursue pleasure, wealth, wisdom, or other things looking for ultimate purpose and satisfaction and will be disappointed and frustrated by all of them. To rage against such truths is itself futile and striving after wind. God understands better than we do, and His work and ways are inscrutable to us.

The Preacher began to conclude his discourse in Ecclesiastes 11:7-10, and in so doing more of his intentions with his meditations become apparent.

The Preacher commended enjoying life: he commended light as sweet, the latter term often used in association with honey, perhaps suggesting savoring the experience of life in light; he commended the experience of seeing the sun (Ecclesiastes 11:7). We should not imagine the Preacher is recommending looking at the sun and thus going blind; instead, he evokes the experience of being outside on a sunny day. Have you ever stood outside on a sunny day and felt more energized, vitalized, and alive? Such is what the Preacher commends.

Since life should thus be enjoyed, the Preacher further commended rejoicing in the years one is able to live (Ecclesiastes 11:8). The Preacher specifically called out those who are able to live for many years; as people get older, they have a tendency to focus on the challenges and problems which attend to life, and it is a good to be reminded how life remains a gift which is to be enjoyed. Soon enough the Preacher will present his observations on the aging process (cf. Ecclesiastes 12:1-8). While people should enjoy life, they also do well to remember the days of darkness which will soon come will be many, and all which is about to take place is hevel (Ecclesiastes 11:8). While hevel has been often translated as “futile” or “absurd,” the Preacher’s nuance here is well captured by the NET with “obscure”: none of us really knows what we will experience in these “days of darkness” to come. Some wish to consider the “days of darkness” as perhaps including the experience of aging; while some of the Preacher’s illustrations to come in Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 might commend this characterization, it nevertheless stands against what the Preacher has just said about life and the contrast being evoked. The “days of darkness” are those in which there is no ability to experience the light of the sun and the light of life; they represent the time after death.

The Preacher then provided specific counsel to the young: rejoice, let your heart cheer you, set aside physical and emotional pain, since youth and the prime of life do not last very long (Ecclesiastes 11:9-10). He encouraged the youth to pursue their desires while reminding them God would judge them for how they thought, felt, and behaved (Ecclesiastes 11:9).

Is the Preacher commending some kind of hedonism? Does he stand at variance with the wisdom tradition in general, and especially that which has been preserved in Proverbs? By no means. The Preacher warned about the judgment of God; Solomon in Proverbs commends finding joy and pleasure in life (cf. Proverbs 10:24, 11:23, 13:19, 17:22). If anything, hedonism would work against truly enjoying and valuing the experience of youth: a lot of foolishness goes along with hedonistic experiences, and the consequences of such foolish behaviors work against joy.

Instead, the Preacher provides appropriate encouragement to young people to enjoy their youth. Just like it can be difficult for older people to remember the joy and pleasure of life, young people tend to take the experience of youth for granted. This tendency is understandable: most young people have no experience regarding what it is like to go through the challenges, limitations, and weaknesses which generally attend to older age. We do not truly appreciate how well our bodies are able to function until we experience the loss or complications of those functions. Furthermore, while in our youth we are convinced we are very busy, tired, and have many reasons for anxiety, in truth our burdens and difficulties multiply with greater significance in age. As we get older we often wish we could return to what we thought was being “busy,” “tired,” and “anxious” when we were younger!

In this spirit the Preacher encouraged young people to “follow their dreams,” as we would put it. As we get older, we have a tendency to look down patronizingly at what we often call the “idiocy” of youth; we can point to a lack of full brain development and maturity to explain all sorts of foolish and stupid things we thought or did when we were younger. Certainly, almost all of us can look back and think of some things we thought, felt, or did when we were younger that we now regret to some degree or another. It does seem unfair how we are called upon to make some of the most significant decisions of our lives when we are least equipped to make them. And yet we do well to sit in and reflect upon how and why God would have made us this way. We can look at our youthful impetus in negative terms negatively as reflecting a lack of full brain development and maturity, or we can look at our youthful impetus and energy positively as not being weighed down and paralyzed by our older, more advanced understanding of things so as to have sufficient imagination and impetus to do things. Yes, there are many things which we do in our youth which we would not do when older: some of those things we should not have done, but many of those things we absolutely should have done!

Our youthful dreams and desires are not all bad; in fact, many times older people are well censured because they have entirely abandoned the spirit and energy which animated their lives and efforts. A lot of times there are things we do when we are young which we would think ourselves out of, or not have sufficient energy for, as we get older.

Therefore, the Preacher’s counsel to youth is robust and worthy of emulation. We should encourage young people to pursue their dreams, to cultivate and share in deep relationships, to commit in marriage and to have children, and to pursue careers which are meaningful and beneficial. We should not impose upon young people all kinds of emotional and mental burdens; life will impose such things upon them soon enough. We are only young once, and it passes before our eyes very soon.

Many consider the Preacher and his meditations in Ecclesiastes to be depressing. Yet, as the beginning of his conclusions in Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 should exemplify for us, the Preacher’s purpose is actually to encourage. Life should be enjoyed; youth should be cherished. They should be cherished and enjoyed because they will not last, and what will come afterward is obscure. If we find Ecclesiastes depressing, it is because we have invested far too much in that which will not endure, and therefore what cannot really sustain and uphold the energy and investment we have put into them. Life on earth is short and ultimately futile; therefore, find ways to enjoy the life you have. Do not put so much investment in the future that you cannot find anything to enjoy in the present. This is not an invitation to folly and immorality: God will judge us all for what we think, feel, and do, and far too many of our difficulties in life come from our foolish behaviors. But in the end, life is a gift; we should make the most of it. We do best when we glorify God as the Giver of life, and strive to obtain the resurrection of life in Jesus His Son!

Ethan R. Longhenry