Ecclesiastes 5:13-20: a reflection

13There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm. 14Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand. 15As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. 16This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind? 17All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath. 18Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion. 19Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God. 20For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life, because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.

Ecclesiastes names a grievous evil it has seen: riches hoarded by their owner to his own hurt, wealth clutched and guarded, only to perish, or to be left behind, since we take nothing with us. As he came from his mother's womb, naked he will return, and carry nothing away for all his toil. The anxious accumulation, in the end, comes to nothing.

But against that futility, the sage sets something surprisingly simple and good: it is good and fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils, for this is one's portion; and when God gives someone wealth and the ability to enjoy it and accept their lot and rejoice in their work, this is the gift of God. The good life he commends is not grand or grasping; it is the contented enjoyment of daily bread, honest work, and simple pleasures, received as God's gift.

There is real freedom in that. So much anxiety comes from clutching and accumulating, from making life about the pile we are building that we cannot keep. The sage points to a lighter, truer way: receive your food, your work, your ordinary days as gifts from God, and enjoy them with gratitude rather than grasping for more you cannot take with you. He even says God keeps such a person occupied with joy in their heart. Loosen your grip on the hoard, and receive today, its bread and work and small pleasures, as the gift of God.

Lord, keep me from the anxious hoarding that clutches wealth I cannot keep and take with me. Teach me the simpler, freer good the sage commends: to receive my food, my work, and my ordinary days as your gifts, and to enjoy them with gratitude rather than grasping for more. Occupy my heart with joy in what you have given today.