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Ecclesiastes (Pocket Canon)

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This is simply the text of The Book of Ecclesiastes (along with an introduction), a book in the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible (or the Old Testament, as Christians often say). The translation is the King James Bible, which holds a unique and unmatched place in the history English letters. Although I do not commonly read from the King James, I read Ecclesiastes is this version more than in any other; and I have read this booklet many, many times since acquiring it in 2006. The book's format leaves plenty of empty space for notes, but is small enough to fit into your pocket.

The writer, probably King Solomon, reflects on a long and varied life of seeking wisdom. He finds both "vanity" (or ephemerality) and the marks of God, and he puzzles over the relationship between the two. Even the best that earth has to offer a wealthy political ruler and philosopher leaves him unsatisfied and seeking more (see chapters 1 and 2 especially). Yet he ends in neither nihilism nor despair, but with a kind of gritty hope before God, who will bring all things into account in their proper timing (3:1-8; 12:13-14). But his stance is a million miles from the kind of sentimental religion that often passes for Christianity today (and I write this as a Christian). He laments over injustice (9:11), aging (11:7-12:7), and seeming absurdity; he is perplexed; he is burdened by his own ignorance and futility.

Ecclesiastes does not offer all there is to say about God, man, and meaning (we have been given the rest of the Bible for that); but it is a wise guide through the vexing vicissitudes of life "under the sun," and, as such, an indispensable companion for the sensitive and thinking person.

The thing that hath been, is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun. My eldest sister, Dawn, sent me this book. This was the simplest of gestures with the largest of statements. On the inside cover "Master the difference between invigorating pride and wicked arrogance....Lead by example and not by arrogance. I was not the only one to have read the words of "The Preacher". Doris Lessing very well encapsulates the depth of the beauty of early 17th century writing. This signatured style provides the King James version of The Bible with the longevity it has endured thus far.