Everything Is Meaningless

"Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "utterly meaningless!" What do people get for all their hard work? Generations come and go, but nothing really changes. The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere. The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea. Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. History merely repeats itself. It has all ben done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. What can you point to that is new? How do you know it didn't already exist long ago? We don't remember what happened in those former times. And in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

I said to myself, "Come now, let's give pleasure a try. Let's look for the good things in life." But I found that this, too, was meaningless. "It is silly to be laughing all the time," I said. "What good does it do to seek only pleasure?" After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. While still seeking wisdome, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I hoped to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world. I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards. I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate many flourishing groves. I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. i also owned great herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who lived in Jerusalem before me. I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!

Anything I wanted, I took. I did not restrain myself from any joy. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless. It was like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.

Wisdom is of more value than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. For the wise person sees, while the fool is blind. Yet I saw that wise and foolish people share the same fate. Both of them die. Just as the fool will die, so will I. So of what value is all my wisdom? Then I said to myself, "This is all so meaningless!" For the wise person and the fool both die, and in the days to come, both will be forgotten.

I wish I could take credit for such an amazing piece of literature, but this excerpt is from the first 2 chapters of the book Ecclesiastes in the Bible. I found it interesting that my pastor read over this in church today, because I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday about life and picking jobs and our futures and the fact that more than anything I don't want to be 40 years down the road looking back thinking, have I really done anything with my life? Does my life have any true purpose if I'm just going to die and all my possessions are going to be gone? Even worse, how much is it gonna suck that when I die, the possessions I worked so hard to get can fall into the hands of someone else that is undeserving and didn't work as hard as me to get them? If you read on King Solomon reveals to us what true happiness comes from, and the book is basically about how useless the things of this world are. It's funny how people refuse to believe in something like the Bible when the book was written so long ago, and still we are going through the same things that men like Solomon were going through thousands of years ago. It's tight to know that my struggles are not foreign to me, and it's interesting finding out that I'm not alone. It's crazy knowing that a man that achieved "everything a man could desire" could still end up in the end being so empty.

So how bout we chase something real eh? Love?

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever..."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

1 John 4:16-18

just think about it...

Keep The Peace