Under the Sun

 

 

What does it mean:

This phrase under the sun?

29 times in Ecclesiastes,

The rest of the Bible: none.

 

Especially mention #2

No new thing under the sun

And that which is done

Is that which shall be done.

 

A special word emerges

With this interesting phrase

In 10 verses I discovered it

And upon it gazed.

 

That special word is labour

With which we are occupied

Morning, noon and night

In order to provide.

 

 

Food for our tables

And clothing for our backs

With the hope that if we strive

There will be no lack.

 

And all this toil and labour

Is done under the sun

And it all comes to an end

When our day is done.

 

Day in and day out

Generation after generation

Dealing with the vagaries of life

While under the sun.

 

Sleeping, working and playing

Studying and coming of age

The common denominator being

Under the sun at very stage.

 

 

What profit hath a man of all his labour

Which he taketh under the sun?

  

I looked on all the works

That my hands had done

And all was vanity and vexation of spirit

And of no profit under the sun.

 

Yea I hated all my labour

Which I had taken under the sun

Because I should leave it to another

After my work was done.

 

And who knows whether he shall be

A wise man or a fool?

Yet after my labour under the sun,

Over it he shall rule.

 

It is under the sun we labour

Not for ourselves, but another,

So labour on we must

And let it not be a bother.

 

 

We all are beneficiaries

Of another’s toil and labour

So, as under the sun we daily toil,

Thank God for His favour.

 

Stewart Russell © August 29, 2021

 

To Fix a Broken Scale

One day I got to thinking

And my thoughts made me livid,

Yes, I know I said I was thinking

But what I thought seemed so vivid.

In my thoughts, I saw a scale

And on that scale, there were some items,

The items were all to one side

Every single one of them.

As could be expected

The scale was down to that side,

These things were heavy without doubt

So I was not surprised.

My scale was terribly lopsided

But at first, I did not mind

Until I got to thinking…

This was thinking of the spiritual kind.

But then suddenly a single item

Was placed on the opposite side

And would you believe me?

Those things went on an upward ride.

I thought, how could a single item

Outweigh a world of others?

And it seemed so insignificant

To me, that was the bother.

On one side there was wealth

Also fame and popularity,

Add to that, great possessions

And loads and loads of money.

Perhaps the scale wasn’t working

Or I was being deluded,

What a strange phenomenon

Into my thoughts had intruded!

I looked again and there it was

Just as I had seen before,

It had to be illusory,

It certainly was nothing more.

  

All these tangible things I saw

Were to one end of the scale

But when matched to the single one

All these items had failed.

I wondered and I wondered

How could this really be?

What I saw didn’t make any sense

Must be something I didn’t see.

Then in my thoughts, I saw a heart

Well, more like a human soul,

A longing there for something more

After having achieved its goal.

The scale that was really broken

Was inside my very own soul,

I possessed much with more to spare

Yet I was not feeling whole.

I was weighted heavily down

With all the world’s trinkets,

The gold, the wealth and fame

But my broken soul they couldn’t fix.

Further down I could not go,

I had now reached rock bottom,

I looked up the scale to the other end

And that’s when I felt so rotten.

I had fed my soul on worldly husks

And such is never soul food,

I was still starved as starved could be

I had to make a move.

There was one item that I needed

That would far outweigh all these,

It was the wonderful love of God

That would rid me of my disease.

My scale had long stopped working

My priorities were all mixed up

And though I had the world’s goods

Mine was a bitter cup.

I remembered King Solomon’s words

All is vanity and vexation of spirit

Hence, my scale so gravely top heavy

Had issued me with an edit.

Get right! Get right! It said to me

Fix your broken scale,

The values thereon are way off mark

You are doomed to fail.

With the correct item at the other end

All those things were jettisoned,

Love controls my scale and now I know

I have a balanced position.

The balance of payment in this life

Cannot be treated to with wealth,

Only the wonderful love of Jesus

Can turn around our spiritual health

One’s scale is seriously broken

Until God’s love is taken on board,

One only gains the right perspective

By studying the Holy Word.

I am thankful for God’s intervention

My scale is working better,

There’s room for improvement though

But that’s another matter.

Stewart Russell © June 2018