All is Meaningless–What a Way to Start a Book!

Love Flags, bright spots in an otherwise incomprehensible space. Click and click again for larger view.

“All is meaningless?” Somebody should have told this guy this is no way to start a book, particularly not one that’s supposed to be helpful.

But he couldn’t be stopped; he was writing from experience.

He was looking at life from the other side of hope. NOT HOPES DASHED, BUT HOPES FULFILLED!

He was one of those rare among us who was able to achieve everything he could imagine. Most who do that end up disappointed. And he did too, until he saw greater light.

Here’s the account in his words:

All

I had everything
so I could do anything
so here’s what I did:

Kicks

First, I went after pleasure
and found it . . .
pleasureless.

Laughs

Not enough laughter, I thought,
knowing it’s good for the bones,
but found it pretty shallow as a reason to live.

Wine

I became a wine connoisseur,
loving its pleasure, its nuance, complexity (and conversation);
but in the end every bottle is only empty.

Giving

I became an altruist,
used my resources for the public good,
providing beautiful spaces,
landscapes of lakes, whole arboretums,
bearing fruit for the mouth and for the eyes.

Staff

To do it I amassed a great workforce,
had my own mega-farm to feed them all.
No spread had more acres, more livestock.

Money

My investments kept producing.
I didn’t have Swiss bank accounts, I had Switzerland.
Nothing I could do could prevent the money pouring in.

Women

And women, I won’t even mention,
Except there were plenty,
always.

King

Suffice to say, I had more of everything than anybody;
there was nothing I needed to refuse myself . . .
so I didn’t.

But

I enjoyed it all . . .
for the most part.
Until I finished.
Then I didn’t.

Zero

Because there was nothing else to do,
except write up my will.
And who knows what whoever would get all this would do with it?
He could be a fool and lose it all . . .
and likely so, as he wouldn’t have worked for it.

Joy

Then I realized it was the work itself that brought the pleasure,
that with a little food and drink,
and a certain sense of God.

?

Other than that, death wins,
and what was it all for?*

There it is. An opening overview. Whatever we pursue, whether or not we attain, in the end, death wins.

Some have suggested that the oft-repeated phrase “under the sun” explains the whole thing, that Ecclesiastes is how life looks without the light of God shining through. Simplistic? Maybe.

Here’s a take from 20th-century novelist, Thomas Wolfe:

“Of all I have ever seen or learned, that book seems to me the noblest, the wisest, and the most powerful expression of man’s life upon this earth — and also the highest flower of poetry, eloquence, and truth. I am not given to dogmatic judgments in the matter of literary creation, but if I had to make one I could say that Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound.”

It’s a book worth pondering, and applying its wisdom.

Next time, however, we’ll take a break for some humor. We don’t want to get too heavy. Hold your paddle light.

____________________________

*Ecclesiastes 2
Next: More Title Options. Coming Friday.