set time. From the universal experience of birth and death to the practices of harvest, from the delights and restraints of friendship to the waging of war and the pursuit of peace—the Teacher covered the normal events in human life. His conclusion was bleak: 9 What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? —Ecclesiastes 3:9 The gray conclusion helps us understand Koheleth’s point. The whole range of life is beyond human control, though by nature we have to share in these activities. Our