Dividing Chapter 9

According to that 1919 commentary (A Gentle Cynic by Morris Jastrow) section 20 is comprised of ten verses, 9:1-9:10. Since I'm using his outline I get out my scissors, scotch tape, and large sheet of paper (# 54) and begin cutting and taping those verses on the left hand side. I do this while sitting in my living room, cushioned lap board on my lap, coffee cup, cell phone, and fountain pens on the small table next to me. I'm comfy, serene, in a meditative and contemplative state. My task today is to divide each verse into smaller chunks for the students to respond to. Let the dividing begin.


Ecclesiastes 9

 ¹ So I reflected on all this and concluded

I make this the first meme to come from Mr. Q's mouth in this section. Throughout Ecclesiastes Mr. Q describes in astonishing detail his "research." He was a thoughtful, intentional, empiricist, scientist. Not sure what new response I'll have students make to this comment yet but I am steering readers attention to the fact that this guy was no armchair scholar; it's almost (but not quite) like he was doing double blind control group experiments.

that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands

Well this certainly deserves comment by students. Soft determinism runs through Ecclesiastes although in this verse it looks like hard determinism to me. Is God responsible for what the righteous do? I don't know but being in God's hands is to me a comforting thought. 

but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 

^{Mr. Q has dropped so many zingers like this throughout the text that I've lost count. It's Mr. Q's acknowledgement of the mysterious future that appeals to me.}

² All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

This is one of the lengthier verses I'll put into Mr. Q's mouth. The more words the larger the word balloon and the smaller the panel space in which to draw. I could make a separate page for each of these four comparisons but my initial thought is that doing so will bog down the flow. 

As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.

I feel the same way about these additional comparisons. It's possible to riff on all six of these binary characters but the bigger literary (and exegetical?) question, "What do I make of his assertion that there is no ultimate difference in the destinies of these twelve individuals?"

 ³ This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. 

It's clear from Mr. Q's previous comments what he thinks of this assertion: it's evil. If he were here I'd ask him several questions: "Why does this bug you so much? Are you sure the same destiny awaits everyone regardless of their virtue or turpitude? Didn't you say earlier that there are some advantages to being righteous? And by the way, why DO you keep contradicting yourself? Have you seen your manuscript lately? How much of what you wrote is still in tact and how many insertions have others made?" The questions never end!

The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 

^{At this point in my cut and tape project I've kept the above text in one word balloon. I may later change this because Mr. Q makes two comments that beg for student reaction: "full of evil" and "madness in their hearts." The ANE notions of depravity and insanity deserve comment. I'm not sure yet if I'll address both of these in one strip or give each comment its own strip.}

⁴ Anyone who is among the living has hope


Mr. Q's positive comments are so rare I give them a place of their own. The overall tone of the book is pessimistic, glum, and depressing so I highlight every upbeat phrase that I can.

—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

John Stuart Mill said, "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides." I'm going to try to compare these two comments. 

 ⁵ For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; 


This verse irritates me; I've had to untangle his contradictions so often I'm getting bored. This concerns me. If I get bored readers will too.

they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. 


In an earlier chapter we batted around the existential quandary of extinction, obliterated memories, and the angst of pointlessness. I'll revisit that notion again. I've felt the sting of being forgotten since my wife contracted Alzheimer's dementia and her memories of me are fading. It's very painful. I'm scouring every word of Ecclesiastes looking for hope. I trust that some breakthrough awaits me, us, him.

⁶ Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; 


Here comes more of the pessimism. What a gloomy frame of mind. It's hard to say (as do many commentators) that this comment emerges from sarcasm, Satan, or disconnection from God ("under the sun" is understood by many as "secular humanism"). I reject all those theories....but have yet to come up with a theory of my own. Pondering continues.

never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.


Ditto.

⁷ Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, 


Another ray of sunshine amid dark clouds of doom and gloom. 


for God has already approved what you do. 


Another theological puzzle.


⁸ Always be clothed in white, 


For sheer comic relief I'm going to have fun with this one...Tom Wolfe, the Pope, brides, white socks.... It's Mr. Q's intent to affirm happiness despite all this doom and gloom...but the oddity of such a comment begs for response.


and always anoint your head with oil.


How does one apply this custom in the 21st century?


⁹ Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. 


Another long blurb from the mouth of Mr. Q, rich with provocative ideas.


For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 


<sup>"Lots" remind me of lotteries which remind me of randomness which contrasts with destiny and fate. Lots to untangle here (no pun intended). 


10</sup> Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, 


As gloomy as Mr. Q is, he was no nihilist. He apparently found enough oomph (by faith?) to get a stiff upper lip and make the best of a bad situation. Viktor Frankl did so in Auschwitz and David Livingston did this while suffering in Africa. 


for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.


Sadly, I'm confronted with yet another conundrum. Did or did not Mr. Q believe in an after life? At times yes, at other times, no. Can't wait to see how I slog though this quagmire yet again without boring myself or readers.


NOTE: Each of those purple quotes will appear in the first panel of a six panel strip. Therefore, these ten verses have been expanded to 21 strips. No wonder the estimated size of this graphic novel is massive.