There's nothing new under the sun, except for maybe us

Let's try a quick game before we get started. What follows is a list of 10 quotes, ideas or sayings. Our job, if we choose to accept it, is to pick out the one that is actually in the Bible. There is only one. The rest found their way into our collective conscious, and maybe our collective unconscious, in some other way. Are you ready? One more thing, don't let the title of this column fool you. Okay. Here we go. 1: Money is the root of all evil. 2: Neither a borrower nor a lender be. 3: Peter had a bad day; Judas had a bad heart. 4: There is nothing new under the sun. 5: There are seven deadly sins. 6: This too shall pass. 7: Cleanliness is next to godliness. 8: Hate the sin, love the sinner. 9: God will not give you more than you can handle. 10: God helps those who help themselves. And the answer is? Number four. If you were fooled by me telling you not to be fooled, well that's probably the best way to fool somebody. Sorry about that. I hope there's no hard feelings. I do that sort of thing to my grandchildren all the time, so let's just think of it as an act of love. "There is nothing new under the sun" comes from Ecclesiastes, and while there is truth in many of the other nine items in the list, there is only one that can claim to be scripture. Whether it's an ice age, a plague, a flood, or a nuclear holocaust, humans have always flirted with extinction. Whether across oceans, up mountains, through forests, or into space, people have always had a desire to see what's on the other side. Whether traversing straits, wandering deserts, or just walking and walking and walking, individuals have always tried to find a way home. And whether it's feudal systems or federal ones, citizens have always struggled to find a way to balance individual liberty with the need for communal consistency. Wherever we find ourselves philosophically, it's a safe bet that none of us are enamored with the news. When we were children, the older among us were required to bring a current event to grade school every week. It was usually cut from the newspaper, taped to notebook paper, and accompanied by our short, handwritten summary. There's really not a way to do that now. And it's probably for the best. Yet and still, there's nothing new under the sun. We've found ourselves in the same place before, and as far as we can tell, we're still here. There is a strange combination of comfort and conviction in the idea that "there is nothing new under the sun." We are comforted by the implication that this too shall pass, even though it's not in the Bible. And we are convicted by the notion that there must be something we can do, some change we make, to bring something new into the daylight. And as uncomfortable as it may be, this strange combination is probably the very best place we can be. The truth is that we are really the only new thing under the sun. As arrogant as that sounds, it also happens to be accurate. We live this life one time, and one time only. And as Oscar Wilde counsels us, "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." Whether it is the road less traveled by or the well-worn path, it's the first time we've walked it. The path is not new, the actual act of walking is not new, but we are. Our walk is. What we do with its uniqueness will be the only thing the sun has never seen. Walk well. Jeff McCord lives and works in the Kingsport area. You can email him at docdavismccord@gmail.com.