Ecclesiastes 9:4: “For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope,  a living dog is better than a dead lion.”

“…how hard it must be to live only with what one knows and what one remembers, cut off from which one hopes for…there can be no peace without hope.”  Albert Camus “The Plague.”

“A living dog is better than a dead lion.”  “Huh???”   What the duce does that mean?

In the first century the school of Hillel and the House of Shammai both questioned whether the Book of Ecclesiastes should be include in the Canon as it was book filed with despair and hopelessness. It was like a primer for existentialism.   It gave no meaning to life and in fact suggested that life was worthless.  It does not matter whether you are rich or poor, in the end the rich die just like the poor and the cycle of life continues.  So why work and struggle all your life and then go to a grave.

Such thoughts give rise to hedonism.  In other words you just live for the moment and find all the enjoyment you can.  The Talmud, however, instructs us that Ecclesiastes is telling us that what is done under the sun is of no value as it will pass away.  However, what is done above the sun will have eternal value.  Our focus should be not on what will quickly pass away but on that which will continue to exist.  Thus, our existence on this earth is only to prepare that which has eternal value.   So long as we are alive we have hope,.

A undomesticated dog in ancient times was considered a vile animal, not the domesticated animals we are familiar with today.  A lion was considered to be a noble animal.  Yet it is better to be a vile beast and to be alive than to be a noble animal and be dead.   We can envy the wealth, power and fame of JP Morgan but he is dead and wherever he has accomplished for eternity is long past. Where we are alive and we still can accomplish something of eternal value.

It is interesting that the word used for hope which is the central thought in this verse is the word batach. Batach is the word used for trust, security, to confide in, to cling to  and to have confidence in. So the opportunity we have in being alive is to trust and to cling to something. But for what purpose?  I believe the secret lies in Batch.

The word batach is spelled  Beth Teth Cheth.  I wonder, can the meaning of life be spelled out in these three letters?  Can it tell us why we must cling and trust in something?  Well, that can be a very individual thing.   I eye my Looking Glass. I wonder if I could locate Batch if I go on a journey behind my Looking Glass?  You are welcome to  follow me behind my Looking Glass if you wish, but I need to caution you that this is my own personal journey to find  Batach hope and may not be your story.

As I step behind my Looking Glass I find it to be a bright, sunny day. Birds are singing, grass is growing, not a dark cloud in the sky. And, why lookie here,  I see the first letter to the word for Batch hope.  It is the Beth and he is calling to me: “Come, come in, I want you should see my house.”  The Beth does represents a house you know.  Ah, but Beth does have a very comfortable looking home, with a nice white picket fence, well cared for lawn surrounded by flowers.  Beth opens the door and as I walk in he encourages me to sit down. “Oh” says Beth reflectively, “I just prepared a glass of Iced Tea, and I would consider it an honor if you join me.”  I enthusiastically accepted Beth’s offer of hospitality.  As Beth served my Iced Tea we talked about the weather, local politics and whether the Chicago White Sox stood any chance of winning the Stanley Cup. “Oh,” Beth cooed “I hear they have a real good quarterback this year.”  I nodded in agreement.  However, I found I was quickly getting bored with this conversation and I had to admit Beth was proving to be a  pretty boring fellow. Chicago White Sox winning the Stanley Cup indeed, why everyone knows it is a Bowl that they try to win, not a cup. I think they call it a Super Bowl.  However, he was a good host but I found myself yawning and began to wonder  if this was all there was to my visit behind my Look Glass when sudden I hear a wind outside.  We look out the window and see a storm approaching. Storms do approach rather quickly here in Esoteric Land. Beth picks up the phone and calls his friend Tet over as it appears things are going to get pretty nasty and we might need to take shelter as Beth’s house would likely not stand up to the storm that seemed to be approaching.

I saw Teth running toward Beth’s house being followed by nasty looking storm clouds and a powerful wind.  Beth and I run to meet him just as the storm arrives.  We knew this was a powerful storm and Beth was certain his house could stand up against such a powerful storm. Teth himself looks like a  readymade shelter. If you look at the Teth closely you will see that he is like a  half circle with two arrow at the top pointing inward. The arrows seem to indicate self-examination.  Beth and I dive inside Teth and it is during this storm that I begin some self-examination. That is what Teth does best, is self-examination.  Beth said his friend Teth has a direct link to the creator as he represents Tov which is goodness or harmony with God.  Well that was comforting because this was one powerful storm that just hit. I asked Teth what will bring us into harmony with the creator, God. Teth told me it was my self-examination.  So I started really self-examining myself.

Outside the storm raged.  Teth was being bounced around  like a rubber ball in a tennis match and we inside felt like we were on a roller coaster.  Well, said Beth this is a little more exciting than inside my house, wouldn’t you say?”  “You’re right,” I reply thinking I was no longer bored but then I thought, “Oh, but your poor house!”  We take a peek at the outside in time to see Beth’s beautiful little house being blown away in the storm.  Beth just shrugged and said:  “No matter, it was not built to last and it was getting a little boring didn’t you think?”

Suddenly Teth says: “Hang on the storm is really about to hit.”  “Hit” “How can it get any worse?” Well hit it did and we were tossed around bruised, battered and beaten.  I looked at  Beth but he was still smiling and said; “Far out, this is some trip, I knew I could show you a good time.”  Finally we came to rest against a huge tree.  I looked out and found it was not a tree but it was Chet the third letter in Batch hope.  I was wondering when he was going to show up. Cheth, you see represents  unity or binding with God.  You see once you follow self-examination you are brought into harmony with God, the Cheth steps in and you bind yourself to God.  But until that happens, you may have to weather some powerful storms.

Beth and I climbed out Teth and I headed back to my Looking Glass.   As I walked away I saw Beth, Tet and Chet Batch (hope) waving at me.  They formed the word Batach or hope.  Once through my Looking Glass I looked at Ecclesiastes 9:4 in my Hebrew Bible. There is a time for peace and comfort with Beth. However, let’s face it, it can get a little boring and perhaps we need a little bit of that raging storm with Teth to keep things exciting.  Ultimately the last letter to Batch hope, the  Chet, will join up with Beth and Teth and  the good times and the bad will all contribute to a binding together with God.  However, those good times and bad times have no real value without  the Chet for it is the Chet, the joining and binding ourselves to God that gives it its eternal value. Whatever we experience in this world is short lived.  But what we do with those experiences can have eternal value if we use them to help bind us to God.