Journal: Faith and Mission
Volume: FM 19:1 (Fall 2001)
Article: Forever Blowing Bubbles: A Look at Life “Under the Sun” in the Book of Ecclesiastes
Author: R. Logan Carson

---

FM 19:1 (Fall 2001) p. 86

Forever Blowing Bubbles:
A Look at Life “Under the Sun” in the Book of Ecclesiastes

R. Logan Carson

Senior Professor of Christian Theology
Southeastern College at Wake Forest
Wake Forest, North Carolina 27587

Faculty lecture presented at Binkley Chapel
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Wake Forest, North Carolina 27587
May 2, 2001

Introductory Observations

What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?” (Eccl.l:3, NIV) Look! Observe! The generations of man, the sun, the wind, flowing streams, the unsatisfied eye or ear, wisdom, pleasure, folly, toil, the passage of time, human justice, achievement, advancement, religion, riches, the human appetite, kingship, youth—all of these, and more besides: They are vanity! Emptiness! Futility! A chasing after the wind! The Hebrew word for it is hebel. The Teacher, Qoheleth, stated that all these were meaningless. To the whole process of “life under the sun,” as the Teacher saw it, I ascribe the term “Forever Blowing Bubbles,” taken from a little ditty written in 1919 by Jaan Kenbrovin and John William Kellette, entitled, “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.”

Fm dreaming dreams, I’m scheming schemes;

I’m building castles high;

They’re born anew; their days are few

Just like a sweet butterfly.

And as the daylight is dawning

They come again in the morning:

I’m forever blowing bubbles, Pretty bubbles in the air.

FM 19:1 (Fall 2001) p. 87

When shadows creep, when I’m asleep,

To lands of hope I stray;

Then at daybreak, when I awake,

My bluebird flutters away.

Happiness, you seem so near me;

Happiness, come forth and cheer me:

I’m forever blowing bubbles,

Pretty bubbles in the air.

I’m forever blowing bubbles, Pretty bubbles in the air;

They fly so high, nearly reach the sky;

Then, like my dreams, they fade and die.

Fortune always hiding; I’ve looked everywhere:

I’m forever blowing bubbles,

Pretty bubbles in the air.1

What is life all about, this human life “under the sun”? This was the main question posed by one called Qoheleth: the Preacher, the Teacher, the Speaker in the Assembly.

visitor : : uid: ()