Dear Friends

I'm off to India next month. It promises to be quite an adventure and I'm excited about being in Delhi, seeing the Himalayas and the Taj Mahal, and swimming in the Ganges. Or at least I was excited about the swim. And then last week I came across a little book called Sod That - 103 things not to do before you die. It lists 103 must-not activities - things that really we shouldn't bother doing before we go to meet our maker. The list includes joining a book group, riding a gondola in Venice and, disappointingly for me, swimming in the Ganges. The book says these activities just aren't worth the effort or the expense. And, besides, the Ganges is so dirty that anyone who gets in is practically guaranteed to get sick.

So I've been re-thinking the swim. But I've also been trying to decide just what is worth doing in life. And I remembered our Old Testament book Ecclesiastes. Qoheleth, the author of that book, tries just about everything in life: he educates himself, he builds great houses, he hires servants, he amasses fine gold and silver, he enjoys every pleasure. You name it, Qoheleth tries it (2.1-10). And what does he discover? In the end he realises that everything he has achieved is just a 'puff of breath':

"...when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun (2.11)".

It looks like there is nothing worth doing, then.

Is Ecclesiastes the biblical version of Sod That? Not quite. Qoheleth would agree that a lot of things aren't worth the endeavour. But he would also say that any advice is limited. True, we'll never figure out our purpose or the meaning of our lives. We'll never work out the right way to be happy. But our lives can be worthwhile if God becomes important to us. Why? Because God gives everything that there is and God gives us the ability to enjoy it:

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil?this is the gift of God (3.11-13)".

So throw away your lists (and anti-lists). There aren't 100 films or paintings or novels or cities that we must experience. And there aren't 103 things to avoid. We should accept the everyday joys that God sees fit to give us. And we should be open to each new moment because we are in God's hands. Or as Qoheleth might put it: don't work too hard, enjoy yourself and remember to thank God. I'm packing my swimming trunks just in case.

Your servant

Ernest