With what lens do we read?

Always searching for deeper, broader, and diverse meaning in my reading, I found a book titled Such Is Life! A Close Encouner with Ecclesiates by Lloyd Geering.

Ecclesiastes is one of the last books included in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is believed to have been written by a sage after the return of the tribes from their Babylonian captivity in 586 BCE. It is, Geering suggests the humanist tradition of the Hebrew heritage.

Yes, you read correctly, the humanist tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures.

"... the sages were not concerned with the destiny of the Israelite people as a whole. They focused on the daily life of the human individual. ... were interested not in Israelites alone, but in all humans."

Ecclesiates is part of the "wisdom tradition" of the returning tribespeople, who brought back to Israel a more universal view of humankind. This "widsom tradition" is unlike the storical religious tradition of the Hebrew people who were left behind.

These returning sages of wisdom and humanism "spoke of Wisdom in much the same way as the Greeks spoke of the Logos or Reason... They exhorted people to take full responsiblity for their own lives and not to look to God to deliver them from evil by miraculous interventions..." [Geering]

Many of us place a certain amount of faith or belief in the humanist tradition. I am wondering how many of us have ever read Ecclesiates with the hermeneutical lens of humanist thought?

See the bright hot sun on the trees and the bushes

Sitting here looking at the many varieties of greens present in the back yard. So many greens I cannot count them. But counting them might be a good idea.

Often I have suggested that the best thing on a deep-freeze day is to stay in, reflect, and ruminate. It seems a good idea for these above-average, 100+ degree days in the south I'm experiencing this summer. From North Carolina to Houston, to Phoenix, to Las Vegas, it has been especially hot. Although the least hot place I've been this summer is Vegas!

Stay in, reflect, and ruminate on the possiblities of your gifts, your talents, and your ability to love. "The ability to love," may take more than one day, because in that subject you have not only the loves you know, but you also have to ask the questions, "Have I loved enough?" and "Do I need to love differently?"

So much upon which to ponder.

And if you don't like these topics--count the many varieties of green you see outside your windows.
Stay out of the heat!
Lillie