Although high winds recently brought down several trees and caused power outages, thankfully we didn’t experience the widespread wildfires our valley saw last March. We are also thankful for the linemen who worked diligently to restore electricity to all who were without.
The old saying informs us that where there’s smoke there’s fire since smoke is a telltale sign of something burning somewhere. Even though the fires were thousands of miles away in 2023, smoke from Canada’s flames clouded our skies for several weeks. Whenever we see smoke, it can remind us not only to check for fire, but if all is safe, it can also help us understand a basic truth about life.
The Hebrew word Hevel is found in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes and can be roughly translated as “smoke” emphasizing how uncontrollable and fleeting something is. This word also refers to our inability to grasp or hang on to smoke as it either blows away or dissipates into the atmosphere. The author of Ecclesiastes used this word no less than 33 times to describe much of life. He pursued pleasure and happiness in many places and many ways and returned to call it all Hevel.
The Amplified Bible uses the word “vapors” attempting to capture this concept that is difficult to put into English. The King James Version calls it “vanity” and the New International Version utilizes “meaningless” to convey the idea. This word can also be translated as “emptiness” or “transitory.” And indeed, King Solomon, the probable writer of Ecclesiastes, is spot on as he endeavors to describe the futile pursuit of happiness through all earthly avenues.
Although smoke can enhance the beauty of sunrises and sunsets, we must enjoy them when they appear for they are soon past, just as the blessings of life must be enjoyed as they come. In spite of our best attempts to preserve them, they are, like smoke, brief and fleeting. We look back at previous days with a bit of longing nostalgia, yearning to return but knowing we cannot. These realizations should motivate us to live into each blessed moment now, thank God for each when it comes, and carry its happy memories forward like photographs of previous sunsets.
In Oscar and Hammerstein’s brilliant musical, Fiddler on the Roof, the Jewish dairy farmer Tevye yearns for the “old days” when rules and roles were clearer and well defined. We hurt with him as he watches his culture and his family slip away before his eyes. We hurt because we’ve all felt at times as does he. But like the smoke or vapor, the days of our lives are ungraspable and unpreservable.
Along the way, Solomon muses that, (Ecclesiastes 5:19) “Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work — this is a gift of God.” And indeed it is. If we always watch and wait for our ship to come in, believing that only then can we be happy, we miss the calm waters and wonderful beaches God has given us to enjoy now. Solomon discovers that it’s best to appreciate whatever pleasures come our way while they’re here without rigorous pursuit. For like the butterfly, happiness never lands while being chased.
When feelings of nostalgia arrive while looking through old scrapbooks or just remembering good times of days gone by, we need a smoke management plan. Foresters must consider wind and other factors before lighting a controlled burn so the smoke creates minimal problems. Perhaps our Hevel management plan could be to thank God for past blessings whenever we recall them while also endeavoring to appreciate the many blessings He’s giving to us now that we will long for later. Gratitude can shift the winds of yearning to breezes of praise. May God help us as we seek to glorify Him today for our past and our present. Blessings, George
