Nothing new?

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done;

there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,

“See, this is new”?

It has already been,

in the ages before us.

Nothing new under the sun...

This passage could be an ode to Social Media - it seems the same jokes and memes appear time and again, recirculating in different guises for different occasions. 

It can be quite tiresome.

And yet, there is also a wealth of creativity and ingenuity.

People paint evocative word pictures.

They capture stunning images of the beauty - or of the squalor- around them.

They share, they interpret, they judge, they implore. Touched by a something in the created world, they draw others in to be moved or appalled too. They gather forces and garner resources.

And much good can be harnessed through a tired media.

Just when we're about to give up, something marvellous happens and faith is restored - faith in God, faith in human nature, faith in human kindness.

For, in the end, no matter how much we have seen or done or how much we've grown weary, we can all be kind, practicing kindness that links us to one another, to creation and to the God of creation today.

Nothing new under the sun?

Yet, still there is kindness.