Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (Isaiah 22:13 NIV).
What is this quest for health? Health is the quest for life—for a longer, fuller life. It is something we work for. It is also something that is supposed to last. What we seek in health is permanence and longevity. Health is finally something we sacrifice for. It is a discipline; it is asceticism.
The book of Ecclesiastes has a totally different outlook on life than our modern conception of health does. Instead of health, we find pleasure. Instead of longevity, we find the ephemeral.
And finally, instead of work, we find grace. It is this different perspective on life that we would like to discuss in this article to contrast it with our present-day conception of life—health—as well as perhaps deepen and enrich it.
The Ephemeral
Our civilization cannot face this notion. The ephemeral is something we escape. It is taboo. Our pursuit of health is often only another way to dissipate the traces of the ephemeral character of our lives from our bodies and faces. Old age, when we finally face the ephemeral people that we are, is shunned in our civilization. Old age is something we try to avoid. And so we exercise.
The book of Ecclesiastes is there to remind us that life is ephemeral and that health, as we perceive it, is an impossible goal. In health, we seek permanence. But life is ephemeral. Our understanding of health, as the quest for longevity and youth, is perhaps distorted. Youth is only one of the many phases of life. It comes and passes. Other phases follow. Life is a succession of different epochs. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.
Our modern-day conception of health, however, is the attempt to stay in one epoch, that of youth, as long as possible. But life is a stream. Our attempts are in vain.
The emphasis on the ephemeral in the book of Ecclesiastes is taken by our civilization as pessimistic. Perhaps it is. But perhaps it serves to open our eyes to another dimension of life that is forgotten in our quest for longevity and permanence: the dimension of pleasure.
The Pleasure
Our quest for health often takes the form of a sacrifice. We sacrifice our bodies, our time, and our appetites for health. The book of Ecclesiastes brushes all these efforts aside. Eat, drink, and enjoy the wife of your youth, for tomorrow we die. We often contrast health with pleasure. What gives us pleasure is certainly bad for us. Health, for the quest of the better good, should control the appetites and the search for immediate pleasure. Such a conception is a Greek idea. In the Bible, we have no such conception of health. In the Bible, life is not a quest. Life is a gift. The festival of life—the Sabbath— reminds us every week of that gift. It reminds us to breathe, and it reminds us to live. On the Sabbath, we are asked not to exercise or diet but simply to enjoy. It is in fact forbidden to exercise and diet, as work and fasting are prohibited. On the Sabbath, we are reminded that life is not a quest but a gift. Life is not something we work for, but something we receive. A gift. Pleasure.
The advice of the book of Ecclesiastes is therefore not at all a call to eat, drink, and forget. It is, on the contrary, a reminder that life is a gift and that we should be grateful and take pleasure in that gift. Our civilization has difficulties, however, in conceiving the notion of a gift. Our civilization is a civilization of achievement and merit; it is a work-civilization. Gifts are always exchanged. We have no notion of free gifts or grace.
The Gift
We cannot conceive of the notion of a free gift because we are too busy trying to achieve things by ourselves. But sometimes our efforts are in vain. And indeed, they are vain, for death always has the last word. It is this truth that our civilization tries to mask in its rush for success, achievement, and . . . health. But, in fact, we are nothing. And it is only when we realize that we are nothing that our eyes are opened to the immense diversity of gifts that fill our lives. It is only when we realize that life is a desert in which all our efforts are destined to wilt and die that we can take note of the freshly fallen manna waiting to be gathered.
But this gift, which is bestowed on us, is itself ephemeral. Eat and drink, for this too is a gift from God. The gift is ephemeral. Eating and drinking are ephemeral activities. They do not last longer than the moment of enjoyment. The gift is never ours to hold. God gives, and God takes away. This is why we are grateful for each instant. Because life is never ours to grasp. The instant comes and passes. We treasure it like a precious pearl. Our perception of life becomes richer. Each instant has a nuance of its own. Our eyes were fixed on the skyline of achievement, of the better good. They are now sensitized to the complexity and beauty of their present surroundings. We now see the fragile petals at our feet, breathe the perfumed air, and feel the person next to us.
Indeed, each instant is a gift that is given and taken away. Each instant is a new creation, and we never know what is yet to come. Life is a journey into the unknown. But we should not be afraid, because our lives flow from God.
Image: Yakov Chernin for Shalom L.C.
