There is nothing new under the Sun.

Posted on 7 May 2014 by Douglas Chadwick

Life is full of coincidences. Yesterday I was reading about the car manufacturer Honda who have come up with a new paint for their future cars. Apparently it will help the car stay cleaner as it reduces the ability of water and dirt to adhere to the surface. Now who is not going to like that, except perhaps the multitudes of Eastern European people who work like demons in “hand car wash” establishments. Today I had my monthly visit from the local Jehovah`s Witness who is fighting a losing campaign to convert me into a believer. I rather like this gentleman and we have some interesting discussions but it is rather like an irresistible force running into an immovable object, but no damage gets done. He departed leaving me with their “Awake” pamphlet. On the back page was the following article. Researchers at Ohio State University studying the Giant Blue Morpho butterfly found that although the insect`s wings look smooth to naked eye, through a microscope the surfaces are actually covered with minute overlapping scales that resemble tiles on a roof. Even tinier parallel grooves on the surface of these scales cause drops of water and dirt to roll off with ease. Engineers are seeking to copy the wings` texture to make high-tech coatings for industry and medical equipment that are resistant to dirt and water. Is that not absolutely wonderful? Nature is full of engineering marvels and yet again gets there first. “There is nothing new under the Sun” Ecclesiastes 1: 4-11 (I get reassurance from reading this when I consider my life and my investing and the mistakes that I make.) This was written thousands of years ago and is still just as relevant today. A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind and on it circuits. All streams run to the sea but the sea is not full; to the place where the stream flows it will flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done, is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor is there any remembrance of later things, yet to be among those who come after.