There is Nothing New Under the Sun
One of the many phrases I get hung up on when I think, and then try to eventually put down on paper is this one, "For there is nothing new under the sun..." It comes from Ecclesiastes, a book of the Bible. This particular book is believed to be written by King Solomon who is thought to be the wisest man to have ever lived. I know, I know, it depends on whom you ask. Moving on. The first chapter holds several verses which pain my soul each time I read them. Mainly due to the fact I know how the author feels and have also thrown my hands in the air asking "What for".
Chapter 1 says this, beginning in verse 4, "One generation goes and another generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun also rises and the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind goes to the south and circles about to the north; it circles and circles about continually, and on its circuit, the wind returns again. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place from which the rivers come, to there and from there they return again. All things are weary with toil and all words are feeble; man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that has been - it is what will be again, and that which has been done is that which will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it may be said, "See, this is new?" It has already been, in the vast ages of time (recorded or unrecorded) which were before us. There is no remembrance of former happenings or men, neither will there be any remembrance of happenings of generations that are to come by those who are to come after them. I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied myself by heart and mind to seek and search out by wisdom all human activity under heaven. It is a miserable business which God has given to the sons of man with which to busy themselves. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a striving after the wind and a feeding on wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted. I entered into counsel with my own mind, saying, "Behold, I have acquired great wisdom, yes, more than all who have been over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of moral wisdom and scientific knowledge." And I gave my mind to know practical wisdom and to discern the character of madness and folly in which men seem to find satisfaction; I perceived that this also is a searching after wind and a feeding on it. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."
I understand this passage intimately, and over the years have battled within myself to find the answer my soul so desperately wants to know. The partial answer is to grow as spiritual beings through the experiences we have, but there is a deeper striving. Just as Solomon said, a man can only learn so much within a lifetime, and a man can only experience so many unnecessary things in a lifetime. So, what is the connection? Nothing is new under the sun. Nothing has been said which hasn't been said before in one way or another to each and every generation since the dawn of mankind. How does the evolution of the spirit really happen? That is the frustration Solomon is experiencing in his passage above. He asks for the deeper meaning of it all. What? Why? What for? What is the purpose of it all? If everything is on rerun and repeat what is it all for?
If as spiritual beings we come from a place of perfection, and in this physical plane we come into new and deeper understandings through the opposites of perfection, then what is the purpose of the perfected state? Most are taught that we know all things and understand all things while in the perfected state. After much internal debate, thoughtful study and gleaning of wisdom outside myself I have to now disagree with this stance. I now have to embrace the thought and possibility that although our state of being may be perfect our soul is not, therefore we are in a constant state of expansion and learning. Coming to this physical plane is just one opportunity for learning and taking this learning into other planes of existence. We never stop growing, learning or expanding our souls.
So, if I take this new line of understanding and apply it to the passage above then I can find hope in knowing although much is vanity, I am meant to always learn. It is not just one time where a soul is given the opportunity to walk a physical path of learning. We have the choice to walk many. We also have the choice not to. When we reach a place where we become one with love, expand this into all we are and do, we then begin to merge worlds. There and here. We are channels. How effective we are is dependent upon whether our channel is wider at the bottom or wider at the top. In other words, we have the choice to be an inverted funnel, only allowing very little to trickle into our existence with our attention being self-centered, or we can be an open funnel with much pouring in, giving it out to those around us. Are we a beam of light or are we a pinpoint of light?
Solomon was much vexed because as he grew in wisdom on all four pillars of life he left many people behind him. His vibration level changed, he internalized much and he only saw the one lifetime before him and before mankind as a whole. Had he understood being here was not the only path he would have been able to expand his soul past his present time. How will we use this time here? If we understand we are spiritually immortal, how will this affect our daily life? Will we embrace each day with new eyes and the excitement of fresh hope? Knowing that this time, this path, this existence is not the end of it all? Will we stop going around the same mountain over and over? Will we bow our pride and learn the lessons meant to be for this time? Will we forgive more easily? Will we love unconditionally more? Will we stop striving in the meaningless and invest ourselves into that which will feed our souls? Will we look at another person and understand it is not about the physical state, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith, religion, race, circumstances, wealth or poverty, emotional or mental state, but it is only about their soul? Their soul. Nothing else. To connect on the soul level, leaving all else to the side. Look into another's eyes, see the eternal and love each other just because we are. Love me because I am and allow me to love in return just because you are. All is vanity outside of the unconditional love we are all capable of. We just have to choose it.
Chapter 1 says this, beginning in verse 4, "One generation goes and another generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun also rises and the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind goes to the south and circles about to the north; it circles and circles about continually, and on its circuit, the wind returns again. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place from which the rivers come, to there and from there they return again. All things are weary with toil and all words are feeble; man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that has been - it is what will be again, and that which has been done is that which will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it may be said, "See, this is new?" It has already been, in the vast ages of time (recorded or unrecorded) which were before us. There is no remembrance of former happenings or men, neither will there be any remembrance of happenings of generations that are to come by those who are to come after them. I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied myself by heart and mind to seek and search out by wisdom all human activity under heaven. It is a miserable business which God has given to the sons of man with which to busy themselves. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a striving after the wind and a feeding on wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted. I entered into counsel with my own mind, saying, "Behold, I have acquired great wisdom, yes, more than all who have been over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of moral wisdom and scientific knowledge." And I gave my mind to know practical wisdom and to discern the character of madness and folly in which men seem to find satisfaction; I perceived that this also is a searching after wind and a feeding on it. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."
I understand this passage intimately, and over the years have battled within myself to find the answer my soul so desperately wants to know. The partial answer is to grow as spiritual beings through the experiences we have, but there is a deeper striving. Just as Solomon said, a man can only learn so much within a lifetime, and a man can only experience so many unnecessary things in a lifetime. So, what is the connection? Nothing is new under the sun. Nothing has been said which hasn't been said before in one way or another to each and every generation since the dawn of mankind. How does the evolution of the spirit really happen? That is the frustration Solomon is experiencing in his passage above. He asks for the deeper meaning of it all. What? Why? What for? What is the purpose of it all? If everything is on rerun and repeat what is it all for?
If as spiritual beings we come from a place of perfection, and in this physical plane we come into new and deeper understandings through the opposites of perfection, then what is the purpose of the perfected state? Most are taught that we know all things and understand all things while in the perfected state. After much internal debate, thoughtful study and gleaning of wisdom outside myself I have to now disagree with this stance. I now have to embrace the thought and possibility that although our state of being may be perfect our soul is not, therefore we are in a constant state of expansion and learning. Coming to this physical plane is just one opportunity for learning and taking this learning into other planes of existence. We never stop growing, learning or expanding our souls.
So, if I take this new line of understanding and apply it to the passage above then I can find hope in knowing although much is vanity, I am meant to always learn. It is not just one time where a soul is given the opportunity to walk a physical path of learning. We have the choice to walk many. We also have the choice not to. When we reach a place where we become one with love, expand this into all we are and do, we then begin to merge worlds. There and here. We are channels. How effective we are is dependent upon whether our channel is wider at the bottom or wider at the top. In other words, we have the choice to be an inverted funnel, only allowing very little to trickle into our existence with our attention being self-centered, or we can be an open funnel with much pouring in, giving it out to those around us. Are we a beam of light or are we a pinpoint of light?
Solomon was much vexed because as he grew in wisdom on all four pillars of life he left many people behind him. His vibration level changed, he internalized much and he only saw the one lifetime before him and before mankind as a whole. Had he understood being here was not the only path he would have been able to expand his soul past his present time. How will we use this time here? If we understand we are spiritually immortal, how will this affect our daily life? Will we embrace each day with new eyes and the excitement of fresh hope? Knowing that this time, this path, this existence is not the end of it all? Will we stop going around the same mountain over and over? Will we bow our pride and learn the lessons meant to be for this time? Will we forgive more easily? Will we love unconditionally more? Will we stop striving in the meaningless and invest ourselves into that which will feed our souls? Will we look at another person and understand it is not about the physical state, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith, religion, race, circumstances, wealth or poverty, emotional or mental state, but it is only about their soul? Their soul. Nothing else. To connect on the soul level, leaving all else to the side. Look into another's eyes, see the eternal and love each other just because we are. Love me because I am and allow me to love in return just because you are. All is vanity outside of the unconditional love we are all capable of. We just have to choose it.
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