Hevel

Ecclesiastes 1:2
Life is fleeting, like a passing mist.
It is like trying to catch hold of a breath.
Hevel. Vapor. Mist. This is the word the author of Ecclesiastes chose to describe life. Life for himself? Life for humanity? Life for
all things living? He doesn’t specify.
A New Testament author uses a similar word in Greek to describe the lives of his readers. “What is your life? You are a mist that
appears for a little while and then vanishes,” he writes in James 4:14.
Normally, I read the Bible with my fuzzy gray blanket wrapped tightly around me, keeping the words at a distance. These verses,
though, penetrated the gray fuzz. I found them comforting. I don’t have to craft my life into a perfect sculpture for the keepers of
eternity to criticize or place value on. I’m just here for now, and then I will be gone. If I am like most people, I will be easily
forgotten. The stakes, then, aren’t as high as everyone says.
The transience of life as mist mist brings a sort of anonymity, and anonymity brings freedom. I can choose what holds value for
me; I can catch hold of breath in my own way regardless of the rules.
Ironically, the authors of Ecclesiastes and James have not vanished as quickly as mist. They live on through their words. I do not
anticipate such a long life for myself. I do not aspire to anything more than mist.

The purpose of this blog is to preserve moments before they vanish. Not because the moments are universally special, but
because they are to me, for now.

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 24, 2020 at 10:40 PM

    This was so enjoyable to read. I love the way your mind works. I have never thought about this verse in Ecclesiastes as comforting, but rather as hopeless. However, you showed me that this doesn't have to be the case. Instead, it offers freedom. That is a beautiful way to view it and incredibly enlightening to me. It challenges me to live in freedom.

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