God is present, in control, and faithful, even when we cannot understand his ways. As Christians, we know this reality, but too often we can be tempted to focus our eyes on things ‘under the sun’. In Japanese the character for eye is 目 and the character for look is 見 – an eye with legs! It’s a reminder that we can choose where we take our eyes, what we focus on.

“… fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 (NAS)

Happy New Year! This traditional greeting invites us to look ahead to the year to come with hope for good things. But if we are honest, what do we really see, and how do we feel, as we look out on the world at the start of 2026?

My church here in Sakata has been going through the book of Ecclesiastes in our weekly Bible study. In this book, the Preacher observes how life is lived ‘under the sun’ (that is, without reference to God), to see if he can make sense of it. Much of what he sees, however, is not good: injustice, oppression, the insatiability of the rich, the drudgery of work, and unfairness as the wicked live long and prosperous lives. Whatever path he explores – wisdom, pleasure, possessions – his repeated conclusion is that it is ‘hevel’.

Hevel is usually translated as “vanity,” but the word literally means “vapour,” or “mist.” It describes something real, but fleeting—something you can see yet cannot grasp or hold onto. Life under the sun, the Preacher tells us, often feels like that: frustrating, elusive, difficult to make sense of.

Ecclesiastes actually feels very up to date. In 2026, we can see many of the same realities the Preacher saw all those centuries ago. As we look at our world, we too see greed, injustice, oppression, and people not getting what they deserve. As the Preacher notes, “there is nothing new under the sun” (1:14). Ecclesiastes is not an optimistic book for the state of the world, but it is real.

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