Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Surely please and wealth will help.  Surely these things will bring meaning and purpose to life.  So he sought out the finest of pleasures to seek meaning.  Laughter, comics, jokes and things that made him laugh was found to be a waste of life and time.  Nothing was accomplished in this.  Pleasure for the sake pleasure seemed insane.  This seems like a contradiction to many passages, but again.  Pleasure is a gift that comes from know its source.  It can be found in the strangest of places and circumstances.  Meaning is not found in pleasure but pleasure is found when we grasp the meaning.

Then, still seeking wisdom and applying understanding, Solomon tries lightening things up with a few drinks.  You know, just social drinks, responsible drinking (because poisoning your mind and body slowly is much more responsible than doing it quickly).  Others seemed to grab onto this as the answer so he gave it an honest look.  In addition to this he also:

• Started a building plan: houses, vineyards, gardens, parks with all kinds of trees.
• He bought a workforce to serve him.
• He built up his flocks & herds.
• Silver & gold were hoarded
• The best singers
• A harem

In all these things, wisdom remained a constant in his life.  He didn't act reckless, at least in his reckoning.  The summary answer is then:

• He chased after all the lust of his eyes.
• He chased after all the lust of his flesh.

In these things he found joy in the moment.  But when he stepped back from it all and looked at all he had done, he found it all meaningless.  A waste of time.  Chasing wind; there was no needle in that haystack.  In the end, there was no gain. 

Ecclesiastes 2:12-16

How does wisdom compare to the folly?  It's a comparison of live lived in frivolous indulgence and one lived wisely and controlled. Frivolous indulgence: merrymaking, accomplishing grand things, amassing wealth, winning awards and accolades of peers.

He established that wisdom was better than folly.  Just like light is better than darkness.  But in reality, it's just a preference if they both lead to the same fate.  There's something missing, though.  We must know the great tie-breaker because there is a great equalizer; death.  If there is no greater meaning, no greater cause, than what value is wisdom.  The only value might be longer life, more time to party, more time to accumulate wealth and be recognized by the world.  All that will get you is a more expensive tombstone.  There has to be more.  There is.

Life is short.  In reality no one will remember you a few short years after you pass.  All gain that comes from wisdom is lost in death.  There must be more.

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26

Solomon, at some point, grew to hate life because of its meaninglessness, of spending life chasing something that can't be attained or captured.  He grew to despise and hate all the worldly things, all that he built, attained and accumulated.  It all reminded him of the futility and brevity of life.  In the end, he would leave it all behind to someone who didn't work for it.  There's a very good chance they would be foolish with it because they didn't toil for it. 

These thoughts brought on despair.  All this work in life led to a great misery.  Death cancels all gain, wisdom won't be the starting point for those who inherit the wealth.  Since any profit is strictly temporary in this life, the best you can do is attempt to find some contentment by eating, drinking and finding satisfaction in your work. 

Not too long again Robin Williams committed suicide: 

• Robin said these things when thinking about the meaning & purpose of life:
  • " Stop taking life too seriously."
  • "Make life extraordinary!"
  • "You're only given a little spark of madness.  You mustn't lose it."
  • "Never pick a fight with an ugly person, they've got nothing to lose."

• Robin attempted to find purpose in lightheartedness. 
  • This served him well for many years.
  • But a dark time overwhelmed him and his purpose was clouded over or discovered missing.
  • He found himself incapable of going on.

Chester Bennington was the lead singer of Linkin Park, a rock band.

• He struggled with depression.
• He struggled to find life meaningful.
• ………even with all his fame and success.

One fan wrote….. trying to make sense of this tragedy:

Several years ago, I had an epiphany, which was that there is no inherent meaning in anything, and that the only meaning anything has in this world is the meaning we assign to it. Concurrently, I concluded that most people (if not all people) who commit suicide due it for one big, primary reason, which is that they have failed to assign (or, as most would probably put it, "find") meaning to anything in their life.

Now, one might look at a wildly successful rockstar like Chester and say, "How he could possibly not find meaning in his life, when he was constantly surrounded by adoring fans singing his lyrics alongside him (or even for him) at his concerts, selling out arenas, making millions of dollars from hit album after hit album, and, in general, living the American dream, complete with a beautiful wife and six children, not to mention a dream house to come home to when he wasn't in the studio or on the road?"

To this, I would respond………(And he goes on to describe a life of depression, addiction, brokenness, amidst worldly success)  "The only cure, in my experience, and as per my above-mentioned epiphany, is the assignment of meaning to something, anything in one's life."

He couldn't "find" enough meaning in his wife, his children, his music, or the difference he'd been making through it, not to mention he and his band mates philanthropic endeavors over the last decade, to give himself a reason to stay, and so he didn't. And it breaks my heart, because it didn't have to be that way.

Perhaps Chester didn't know that he was responsible for assigning his own meaning to the world around him. Perhaps he, like most people, believed he was a victim of circumstance, and rather than believe that he was in control of what happened to him. 

(He goes on to say, he could quit and lead a normal life – presumptuous, at best.)

The writer sums this up with what he would tell Chester or others like him:

"Anything can mean something, if we want it to."  

The part that he didn't say………assign meaning, because in reality it is all meaningless.  All I can say is wow!  How thin.  Assigning a meaning to something that has no meaning is meaningless in, and of, itself.  It's an idol – blinding assigning power and authority to that which is nothing.  We might be able to fool our self for a while.  But when things get serious, the meaningless folds up, the lie is exposed and all that is seen is futility and hopelessness.

In the recent suicide of Anthony Bourdain this was heard:

• "He had it all; fame, money, success – it makes no sense."
• In spite of all he had, he found that life was devoid of meaning.

***

This adventure of life can only be enjoyed if we are equipped for it.  Mankind, from the beginning, was set in the garden to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.  To rule over all of creation.  All this was to be done for the glory of God. 

To enjoy the great adventure correctly we must be born again.  We must have a new heart, eyes to see and ears to hear.  Meaning is found in God.  The ability to enjoy this adventure, come rain or shine, is a gift from God.  All else, is meaningless in the end.

©2018 Doug Ford