How Crazy Is That?

I, Barbara Rollins, taught an adult Sunday school class for years. Sometime in 2005 or 2006 we decided to study Ecclesiastes, so I sat down to read it and wanted to argue. So I did and the partnership we had created to publish books took it on. In reading through the Bible in 2022, I decided to read my reaction to it. I’m sharing with you the Introduction to A Time for Verse – Poetic Ponderings on Ecclesiastes. Eagle Wings Press imprint of Silver Boomer Books. Kindle Edition.

Somewhere along the way, folks developed the habit of dishonesty with God. We speak to him – even of him – in hushed tones, reverently, even when we want to shout at him. Dare we question him? Can God be challenged? Not unless youʼre crazy! Who wants to be crazy?

The practice of forced reverence isnʼt healthy, wise, or honest. Godʼs tough. He can tolerate questioning, like Gideon asking for a physical sign. Twice. And that after the first miraculous proof! God stands up well to argument, as when Abraham convinced him to spare Sodom for the lives of fifty righteous men, then whittled down to forty-five, then forty, thirty, and finally ten. God allows us to negotiate, as when Deborah pleaded for a man to lead the army God called her to raise, and when Moses needed a spokesman in his place – a prophet – and God offered Aaron to address Pharaoh.

The Teacher who wrote Ecclesiastes knew this. He knew God trusts our intellect. Well, maybe he laughs at it rather than trusting it, but he certainly tolerates it. Heck, he made it, why wouldn’t he? The Teacher knew God hears our questions. Maybe he also knew God occasionally answers, as he did to Job, “Thatʼs my business, not yours.” But itʼs okay. Thatʼs how we talk to the people we know. And knowing God liberates oneʼs spirit, soul, and body! Who wants to be crazy?

Maybe nobody. But what a liberating truth the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous uncovered, knowing a fundamental step to a sane life is admitting our insanity, confessing weʼre crazy. And we can share our audacious ideas freely. Meaningless. Dare we judge Godʼs creation? The Teacher did. Everything is meaningless? Well, first letʼs define “meaning.” Perhaps “subject to a reasoned explanation.” How crazy is that? ~ Rollins, Barbara B. A Time for Verse – Poetic Ponderings on Ecclesiastes. Eagle Wings Press imprint of Silver Boomer Books. Kindle Edition.