ECCLESIASTES 1.5-7

5. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose, panting.

6. The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit.

7. All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.

In his wisdom, Solomon saw that even the cycles of nature demonstrate the repetitious, frustrating and ultimately futile nature of life without God, life as he, the Koheleth, lived it for so long. Such is the big picture that most people are too busy, or afraid, to confront and consider, the stark reality that so depressed him.

It is the sun, with the help of the spinning Earth, that helps creates the illusion of time -- the days that run into weeks, the months, the seasons and the years. It is the sun's radiant energy that creates climate and weather and drives the water cycle -- causing the winds to blow, and the rain to fall and flow into the restless and often stormy sea.

Without the sun there would be no life and little movement on the face of the Earth. It is the sun that keeps us alive -- and how strange it is to think that our bodies are kept warm and given the strength to move and work because they have taken in and at this moment actually contain a tiny part of the sun -- a mysterious essence called energy that just a few months earlier was 93,000,000 miles away across space, and has passed to us, like the power of the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven.

Like a man rising from his bed each morning to face the coming day, the sun also rises, says Solomon, and goes on its way -- ending up where it began, busily going nowhere. It rises and shines then weakens and sets, arriving back next morning at its starting point "panting", as one translation puts it -- conveying the sense of futile busyness and frustration that is the lot of so many people whose sights are firmly set on personal fame and fortune.

The sun does not think, and anyway, like so many people, it is too busy to think -- and thus its mindless daily routine continues, and soon the days become weeks and months and then years, and soon it is shining on a new generation . . .

Time and again Jesus warns his disciples against becoming consumed by the routines and cares of this present life to the neglect of their high calling. For example, in the parable of the sower, the seed that is choked by weeds represents the person who hears the word and actually accepts and understands it, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of riches make it unfruitful (Matthew 13:22).

Notice the phrases "worries of this life", the pressures that so easily cloud our judgment -- and "the deceitfulness of riches", the passing shadows of reality that can appear so important and alluring.

Again, in the parable of the Great Banquet, planned to celebrate the coming of the Kingdom of God, Jesus warns those who hear his voice against neglecting their fabulous calling through a preoccupation with things temporal.

After describing the excuses offered by those who were too busy with apparently more important matters to bother -- the one who had bought a field and had to go and examine it again, the one who had bought some oxen that required his attention, and yet another who had just got married and was too preoccupied to attend -- Jesus sternly warns that such individuals will have no part in that banquet (Luke 14:15-24).

Just like so many preoccupied people, the wind also rushes around in circles, busy going nowhere. One such busy person, described in the gospels, was Martha, the sister of Mary. When Jesus was invited to their home, we read that: "Mary, who also having seated herself beside the Lord's feet, was listening to His words, but Martha was going around in circles, over-occupied with preparing the meal" (Luke 10:39-40 Wuest translation).

When Martha fumed and complained at all the work she had to do, Jesus commented: "Martha, Martha, you are fretting and fussing about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen what is best, and it will not be taken away from her" (verse 41). Notice that Martha was over-occupied, busying herself more than necessary. Could it be that she actually didn't want to stop and sit down and listen to the sometimes discomforting words of her visitor?

Solomon’s intention is that we, like Mary, stop, step back, assess our lives and identify our true priorities.