When You Experience Change, Consider Reading Ecclesiastes

 

                                           photo June 2026 by Aida Besancon Spencer

At a time of much change, I decided to re-read the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon’s words of wisdom as he reviews his own life amidst great change. He remembers always to “fear God and keep his commandments” as he looks forward to God’s judgment in the future, to reward good and punish evil (Eccl 12:13-14). But, if this is his goal, what is the significance of the introduction?

How does Ecclesiastes begin? Is it “’Meaningless, Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless’” (Eccl 1:1). That is the rendering of the NIV 2006. “Meaningless” is an interpretation of a literal term: “The words of Qoheleth, son of David, king in Jerusalem. ‘Breath/breeze of breezes (hebel hebelim), [1]’ says Qoheleth. ‘Breath of breezes, all [is] breath’” (Eccl 1:1-2). Qoheleth comes from the verb qehel “to be assembled or congregated,” signifying “Preaching Wisdom or the Assembler.”[2] Qoheleth assembles his listeners so he can explain the meaning of this phrase “breath of breezes” throughout his book.

He begins: “What does anyone gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever” (1:3-4 NIV). I write these reflections as my familial home finally leaves possession by our family and friends to a bank who will sell it to total strangers.

When my mother was young, she found a destroyed house, only a foundation remaining, in the countryside of the capital of the Dominican Republic. Now it is an urban residential part of the city. The history of that former house is lost in time, but its walls were an impressive 16 inches wide, wide enough to ward off enemy attacks. She designed our house (together with an architect) and supervised every phase of its building on that foundation during the era of dictator Rafael Trujillo, who had renamed “Santo Domingo” to honor himself “Ciudad Trujillo” or Trujillo City. Our family moved into the rebuilt house when I was only one year old. But then my mother contracted tuberculosis. In her day no vaccine or antibiotic for treatment existed. And she had to go to a health sanitarium in the United States for a year. We moved to Cranford, New Jersey and lived there for a few years while she recovered. Meanwhile, my parents rented the house in the Dominican Republic. I have a few memories from that time in New Jersey, but one that repeats is me standing with my brother and father out in a garden while we looked up toward a balcony far away where my mother stood. We waved. What happened then was a prolepsis of what is happening now. As a very young child, I lost connections with my mother and my home and lost control of my life and my belongings. These are the difficulties we endured while the house remained.

In what does Solomon find comfort?  “People can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God” (Eccl 2:23-24 NIV). These conclusions end: “Also this is breath.” While we lived in this house, we ate and drank and enjoyed our work. These daily activities are all from God. God provides the food and the labor to the person who pleases God. These activities have not been “meaningless,” but rather they bring a pattern or routine to one’s life amidst change. Change, like a breeze, comes constantly, but it also brings changes to the environment.

We have “eternity in our hearts” (Eccl 3:11) and thus we feel lost in the midst of change. We were meant to live forever, and our labors to last forever. But we all will die (Heb 9:27), even though we look forward to the resurrection. In the meantime, Solomon cautions, enjoy God’s gifts, to eat and drink daily and be satisfied with our work (Eccl 3:13). He repeats this important refrain many times (Eccl 5:18; 8:15; 9:7).[3] God’s work endures forever, but ours endures only as it is tied to God’s (Eccl 3:14).

All is fleeting, but not “meaningless” for us humans (Eccl 3:19). In the meantime, God wants us to enjoy our work (Eccl 3:27) because we cannot control what will happen with our work and our property, after we pass on (Eccl 3:22).

Solomon also reminds us that “Two are better than one, …if they fall down, they can help each other up” (Eccl 4:9-10 NIV). My parental house is passing on to banks who may have little regard for the past, but my companion and husband Bill continues on as we help each other, keeping each other warm in cold Massachusetts and defending each other. We enjoy life together (Eccl 4:9-12).

Having money in itself never brings satisfaction (Eccl 5:10). Rather, “the sleep of laborers is sweet” (Eccl 5:12). Solomon also cautions us not to bother muttering the fruitless refrain: “Why were the old days better than these?” (Eccl 7:10). That’s not a wise question. The old days will never return.

What did my mother gain from her labors? Our family returned to Ciudad Trujillo, our house, our home, when she was well, before I was ready for kindergarten, which they called, “Fun-to-Learn.” We enjoyed that house for almost sixty years. As a youth, I climbed the low trees, creating elvish homes in the sky. I tried to play tennis on a crooked, earthquake-cracked cement court. I climbed its balconies and imagined I could fly through the Flamboyan trees. I watched the chickens flutter up a tree next to my bedroom balcony every night. I learned to roller skate by careening around the cement path that surrounded the house. I realize now it was not just a house. It had become a citadel of memories.

My parents retired there. As they aged, my father’s coworker, his son, his wife and her sister, then their sons and daughter took care of them (and, eventually, us). The doctors among them even slept over, when necessary, for caretaking my parents’ health. After my parents died, we then sold the house to the family, especially to my mother’s friend and dentist. That was in 2006. But now she too must sell the house after twenty years. Her children were young when she purchased the house, but now they are grown, married and single, but all adults. Her children and grandchildren enjoyed the ample yard, as we had. But now their mother and grandmother remains alone, taking care of an aging house, too expensive for her to pay her bills. The house and the property have now been bought by the bank.

The land remains, while the wind blows over it creating the breeze: “The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course” (Eccl 1:6 NIV). Who else but Solomon was king in Jerusalem and experienced in wisdom and knowledge? (Eccl 1:16). Solomon is Qoheleth. He is exasperated when he wonders what will become of all his property. We too wonder if our house, although considered by the government a national heritage for its Spanish architecture and age, will be knocked down for a set of high-rise condominiums.

The property had already been subdivided many times. When my mother was hospitalized, some of her family claimed half of it for themselves. My mother herself sold a small part. My brother and I subdivided the property into three parts. The property may again be subdivided. Possibly the house will be revitalized. Will these new owners be wise or foolish? (Eccl 2:11).

Is Solomon’s refrain really appropriate for us who fear God? Yes, Solomon repeats: “It is appropriate for people to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toils…labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot” (Eccl 5:15 NIV).

Solomon’s words are relevant to New Testament Christians as well. Jesus adds some cautionary boundaries, not to worry about what one eats or drinks or wears. While we enjoy our daily work, our focus is on each day. In the same way, Jesus does not want us to worry about tomorrow, “for Tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matt 6:34). Jesus’s brother James also warns us not to plan for the future without qualifying our plans by “If the Lord might will…” (James 4:15). Our very lives are a breath: “You are a mist, the one for a little appearing, then also disappearing” (James 4:14).[4] James applies to his day what has been repeated frequently in the Old Testament: “My life is but a breath” (Job 7:7);

“Everyone is but a breath” (Psalm 39:5);

“My days vanish like smoke” (Psalm 102:3);

“Lord, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow” (Psalm 144:3-4 NIV). Instead, God is our “Rock,” firm and secure, a stronghold or fortress (Ps 144:1-2),

So, what have I learned from Ecclesiastes as I prepare to lose all connection to my familial home in Santo Domingo?

1.One’s life and one’s belonging within life are all transitory, like the Caribbean Tradewinds, that blow, especially in the winter.

2.The land itself stays on, despite is many uses by humans.

3.We enjoyed use of our property for many generations. Now it is time for others to take its ownership. As owners, we will be forgotten in time, as even we ourselves never knew the previous owners.

4.The property itself went through many changes and subdivisions. This latest change is nothing new. We cannot control its use once it is sold. And, sadly, we may not retain all our connections.

5. Our own satisfaction should come from our own labors and daily enjoyment of God’s gifts to us of meaningful work and healthy nutrition[5]: the daily routine of eating and drinking; the daily production of labor. We can find meaning in the fleeting nature of life.

6. I am thankful for having a spouse like Bill who can accompany me in times of change.

7. We cling, as breaths ourselves, living within the changing winds of life, on the Rock of our lives, the living God who never dies.

Aída

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[1] Karl Feyerabend, Langenscheidt Pocket Hebrew Dictionary to the Old Testament Hebrew-English (Berlin: McGraw-Hill Book, 1969), 74. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs define hebel as “vapour,” figuratively, “vanity.” A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1968), 210. What is transitory may be evil, as the idols in Isa 57:13, but it may simply be mortal.

[2] Feyerabend, Langenscheidt, 296.

[3] The theme is the circulatory nature of life. Thus, Solomon structures the book in a circulatory manner, repeating its main theme. It is not a book by a person without faith as some consider. Rather, it is Solomon considering what matters over time.

[4] See further on James in my commentary: Aida Besancon Spencer, A Commentary on James, Kregel Exegetical Library (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2020), 237.

[5] Paul reiterates that all foods that God created are to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving (1 Tim 4:3-4). See also Aída Besançon Spencer, 1 Timothy, NCCS (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2013), 104-107.

 

What I’ve Learned from Chopping Wood

Picture by Aída Besançon Spencer

About 30 years or so ago, a nor’easter of terrific force roared in off the Atlantic and knocked a large tree down all across the little vegetable garden Aίda cultivates in the small space between the left side of our garage and the old rusted metal pole that marks off our neighbor’s property line in traditional New England fashion. Limbs and trees were down all over town and, as for the infant broccoli and tomatoes sprouts in our garden – they were totally buried under wood and foliage. We stood, staring at it in shock and dismay. How were we going to get rid of all this debris? At that point, a neighbor across the street, peered out her front door, over her leaf and branch-strewn lawn and called to us, “Do you have a power saw?” We were the new neighbors at that point, only having been in the neighborhood for a mere 14 years. We learned early on that – to be a Bonafide New Englander, one has to live here for 25 years for starters. So, we still obviously needed good advice. New Englanders are renowned for not warming up to newcomers – we freeze up to them and that friendship sticks for life. I can say “we,” because our family has now lived here for 44 years – we are now authentic Yankees (of course, not to be confused with the baseball team, since all true New Englanders are automatic Red Sox fans, no matter whom we rooted for before).

Well, we didn’t have a power saw. But she did, and, in the gracious way New Englanders reach out to each other in a calamity, she asked: “You burn firewood don’t you? Well, you can borrow mine and cut that up and burn it in your wood stove.” I gaped at her. We had inherited a large wood stove as part of the furniture when we bought our house and, like everybody else, we had been working our way through a number of woodmen looking for someone with long cords and reasonable rates, not having yet met our superb present wood supplier: Steve Salisbury of Middleton, MA, a few towns over from us, who has become more than just our woodman, but a personal friend as is his wife and son, Steve Jr. Well, I sawed up the wood, stacked it in the bottom of the garage and never looked back. Fossil fuel in the land of Cape Cod costs about the same as launching a moon rocket from the sands of Cape Canaveral, at least it feels that way – and buying already cut-up wood was one of our greatest expenses. Steve delivered me long heavy limbs and smaller tree trunks and his long cord of wood was like every other dealer’s two cords. Our heating costs – the greatest drain on our small budget, except, of course for taxes here in “Taxachusetts” - as those who live here call our state – suddenly dropped and made living here for the next decades more doable. We could actually survive here and not have to sneak out in our eventual retirement years and pitch a tent in some deep recess of the vast Wenham Swamp, whose mosquito-laden borders are just three blocks away.

But what I didn’t anticipate as I gratefully cut up and split by hand my first treefall was what a change in my life this simple beginning would produce! Once Steve Salsibury started downloading tree limbs and trunks into our driveway, I began to gather up suitable equipment: a wedge I bought at Home Depot along with an axe and a 16 pound sledge hammer I call “The Great Equalizer,” another wedge we unearthed in our yard, a third a dear friend and elder in our church, Joe Kerwin, graciously gave me, and, finally, after a succession of electric power saws (if I’m not going into the woods for trees, why should I have gas fumes blowing in my face???), a crowbar and the mineral hammer that had been my dad’s, and, finally, a trade with a church member of a maul for me and for him a cement pick left behind by our house’s former owners he’d noticed when he visited us the week he was breaking up an old cement patio at his house). I was good to go! Since then, my only addition is a large hatchet we also found in our yard. New Englanders traditionally buried their refuse in their yards. When our across-the-street neighbor was a girl, she and the rest of the neighborhood watched as a Model-T Ford chassis was dug out of the small yard to the right of our garage and the street. Every home has its own history.

Well, right to today, the wood has done a lot for me, besides making our budget doable as our state and town taxes continue to skyrocket. Chopping by hands protected by super thick work gloves has built up my health and strength. Since writing and research and teaching are largely sedentary tasks, involving this exercise has done wonders for my disposition. While I’m usually gentle and upbeat, if I’m ever editing or grading and feel my time is being wasted and, thus, tempted to snarl. “What will this babbler say?” (cf. Acts 17:18), a refreshing hour pounding on the wood, and I sink into my chair and muse beneficently, “What does this delightful student (or potential Africanus Journal writer) have to share?”

So, what exactly have I learned from chopping wood?

PATIENCE: I’m originally from New Jersey. Patience is not imbibed automatically from our baby bottles. But wood is not cooperative. With haste, getting hurt is very easy. One only needs to hit one’s thumb once to learn that. So, wood chopping teaches patience. No matter how hard I beg, it will not cut itself. And, if that’s not enough, well-meaning passersby will help it out. They, filled with pity seeing a job as laborious as sawing and splitting unseasoned wood, will inevitably ask: “Why don’t you buy a splitter? It would make your job real easy,” followed by a quizzical gaze…) Answer: “I mainly sit down at work, so this is my exercise. I save time and money not having to go to a gym. I can get all the weight-lifting and endurance work I need, while guaranteeing a warm winter for my wife and child.” If I earned a nickel for every time I’ve been asked that, I could put a whole gallon of gas into our car, even at current prices! And, thankfully, after about twenty minutes into work, I already have built up enough reserve patience to return my stock answer cordially to this well-meaning, even if endless, question.

PERSEVERANCE: Chopping up wood teaches me I don’t live in a movie. In a movie, the characters decide to go somewhere and -Voila! – they’re there. Sometimes they seem to jump from the car to the front door of their destination, or they walk in splices here, closer, then suddenly looming in front of us, with the speed of an airport supercharging its moving sidewalk. But our task takes time. Just getting ready takes perseverance. One needs thick gloves to protect the hands, as I noted, then ear plugs to quiet down the noise of sawing, long sleeves and trousers to ward off ticks, goggles to protect the eyes from flying wood chips and sawdust, along with a hat and sunglasses and sunscreen to protect the eyes when the sun is out. And sometimes hand and leg supports when one is starting out. In short, a wood chopper needs it all. Hauling out the ruler and all the tools, and setting up wood slates to protect the driveway or the lawn from the saw and the hammers is also mandatory, so it can take a half hour to get set up, especially, if we put a cardboard or tarpaulin under the slats to catch the sawdust so that can be put under any trees. Hmmmm, did I lose any readers with my detailed explanation of proper preparation? If so, please warn them not to get into wood chopping, because everything I’ve mentioned ensures safety. Perseverance is mandatory, even in preparation.

PREPARATION: Also, passages of the Bible have come alive for me as my instructors in ways I never anticipated before I started chopping for fuel. Solomon knew much about construction. For example, consider Ecclesiastes 10:9b: In wood splitting one can hurt oneself. [Better to take this warning from the Old Testament rather than from personal experience – that’s for sure!] The next verse cautions us, if the blade with which we’re cutting becomes blunt [an interesting word: kahah[1] whose onomatopoeic letters sound smooth, like a dull blade] and is not sharpened with a whet stone, one needs more exertion (or strength), but proper use will bring success. In other words, keep our tools sharp and do our job right the first time. If we don’t and we slack off, verse 18 of this same chapter warns us the beams will sink (i.e., the rafters will sag) on the house we construct. If you don’t prepare well, more effort is needed to get the job done. Use wisdom to guide you to do things effectively in both physical and spiritual tasks.

PERFORMANCE: Have we noticed? God was very specific when laying out the plans for the ark in Genesis 6 (v. 14). Cypress wood[2] is a durable, lighter, wood with its own resin and could stand the rigors of the Genesis flood. So, even some soft woods are useful for construction. In Exodus 37:1, acacia wood, another strong, durable, rot-resistant wood was selected for the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle. However, in selecting wood to put in our fires, not just any type will do. Soft wood like leftover railroad ties used under tracks or other pine-type wood used for slats or painted for buildings are often filled with creosote which can coat the inside of your chimney when you burn it and cause a lot of smoke and even a fire. Hard wood like maple, oak, hickory, and cherry burn much cleaner and longer. The old spiritual, “Well, Well, Well” warned that God said, “a fire not a flood next time.” We don’t want to fulfill that promise in microcosm in our chimney. So, I’ve learned to follow God’s guidance to be careful and specific in the wood we choose and I recommend that to all, because we still see occasional chimney fires burn houses here in town. The best advice I’ve heard is use your pine for fire pits, heat your house with hard wood. God didn’t send Noah and his family off in a big pine box. They may have all ended up in a huge fire, if they had a wood stove on the ark! God sent Noah’s family out in a lighter cypress softwood box which was rot resistance and they lived to tell the tale… So should we, when working carefully and conscientiously with our wood tasks. In life, in physical and spiritual tasks, we should use appropriate quality resources and do quality work.

PROSPERING: And an important final point needs to be made: trees are not just about chopping and burning – that’s for dead or diseased, ant-ridden trees. Instead, Psalm 92:12 likens the righteous person to a flourishing palm tree, growing like a cedar of Lebanon. Verse 13 continues the analogy, depicting the righteous as planted by God. Verse 14 celebrates the fact that the righteous will still bear fruit in our senior years, staying green and fresh and praising God (v. 15).

Trees are a gift from God – both alive and even in death. And I am so grateful for them. From them I have learned patience, perseverance, preparation, performance, and prospering.

Bill 

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[1] A. Philip Brown II and Bryan W. Smith, A Reader’s Hebrew Bible (Grand Rapids, MI, 2008), Eccles 10:9-10, 18. See footnote 29, p. 1417.

[2] See C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Volume 1, The Pentateuch (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, n.d.), p. 142.