a hopeful vapor

“Whoever dies with the most toys wins.”

“Life’s a bitch, and then you die.”

“Don’t take life too seriously, you won’t get out alive.”

These and similar sentiments express the somber but accurate assessment that there are some things in life that we cannot escape. Try as we might, we cannot avoid all pain. Pretend as we may, we cannot escape the grave. Wish as we please, we simply cannot get away from some rather harsh factors, things that threaten to suck the life out of life.

Of course this idea is nothing new. The author of Ecclesiastes, many centuries ago, said: “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Eccles. 1:2). The term used here means a vapor, something that is difficult or impossible to grasp. Or, as Ecclesiastes says, even the most noble of tasks is “chasing after the wind.”

There is something about life that, when faced up to honestly, utterly stuns us. Life is temporary, fleeting, and out of our control. Each day in an unstable thing, which explains why so many of us do whatever we can to bury, run from, or escape such depressing thoughts.

For instance we spend much time in our society trying to prolong life but, however successful our attempts, we all eventually die. Many put forth great energy in seeking to accumulate things, gadgets and toys with which to amuse themselves, or else to brag about. But whatever the efforts, the toys will eventually deteriorate and even what survives will be inherited by someone else.

Some, with more noble motives, want to create a legacy for themselves, passing on whatever they can by way of material wealth and inheritance, but this, too, will soon be lost to time. Certain individuals want to be memorialized by building a reputation that survives the grave. This way, it is thought, even after they are gone, others will appreciate the achievements and remember the names of their predecessors. But how many people leave this kind of mark? We’re familiar with an Abraham Lincoln, an Albert Einstein, or a Babe Ruth, but few of us are consistently captivated by what even these admittedly remarkable individuals, now long gone, have done. What’s more, these famous figures, who have accomplished so much, are not here to enjoy their own accomplishments or personally benefit from their acts of nobility, intellect, and athleticism. And, let’s face it, even those of us who truly appreciate other individuals can only do so for a short time, for we too will one day die.

Perhaps another will say, “My hope is to pass on traits and ideals that my children and grandchildren will enjoy for years to come.” Yet, even here, there is no guarantee that anyone’s children and grandchildren will take heed to what their predecessors worked so hard to promote and embody. And, again, even if we successfully pass on high ideals to our descents, they too will be swallowed by the grave.

These admittedly gloomy thoughts are hard to manage, which is precisely why so many people spend a lifetime running from them. Yet, inevitably, we find that they are all too accurate. So, we must ask, is life truly meaningless? Is there nothing to be gained from all that we say and do during our sojourn on earth? Is it all a waste?

Contrary to what one might originally think, the author of Ecclesiastes does not want us to abandon all hope. Indeed, in a number of places, he states what we all intuitively know, that life does have meaning As Ecclesiastes notes, God has “made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts” (3:11). Here, I think, we find a key to understanding how life can both seemingly meaningless and yet have ultimate meaning. This is somehow tied to understanding our transcendent purpose under our Maker.

If we consider life “under the sun” as an end to itself, if life is viewed as unrelated to God, then life takes on a depressing hue. If no one remembers, if all that we work hard for is eventually taken from us, if even our best intentions are squandered and lost, our lives are futile. As another writer records: “If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32). In other words, if what we observe around us is all that there is, we might as well drown out our meaningless existence.

But, and this is the point of Ecclesiastes, there is something more, and that something is located in the One who created us for Himself. And the point here is not merely that doing right now will yield benefits in eternity, as true as that it, but that life “under the sun” takes on meaning precisely because it is life that flows from and to God.

Therefore, we read that “there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor–it is the gift of God” (3:12). Joy and goodness are meaningful, therefore, because they come from God.

Is life sad and filled with uncertainty and frustration? Yes, it is, and we would do well to recognize this and lead our lives in ways that reflect these facts. But there is also more here, for these dispiriting thoughts are intended to not only place reality before our eyes but to turn us outside of ourselves. Life is ultimately meaningless only when separated from a transcendent resource. Life does have meaning, however, when lived from the vantage point of our Creator.

Our efforts to achieve goals in this life are completely proper because they stem from a meaning-making God and so will endure forever. While our goods will eventually deteriorate, our noble efforts to accumulate and share them are not forgotten by the Lord of heaven and earth. Though death comes for all of us, we also have an intuitive awareness that this life is a passage way to an even fuller existence, a life that is impacted by the choices we make in the here-and-now and which will extend, illuminate, and fulfill the best features of our lives under the sun.

Our responsibility, therefore, is to recognize the futility of life outside of God and to embrace him as the One through whom “every good and perfect gift” comes (James 1:17). Despite the hard to handle features of life–its brevity and uncertainty and pain–there is joy and purpose when we see and live this life through the template God has provided.

As the book of Ecclesiastes draws to a close, we receive these instructions: “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Or, as the Contemporary English Version puts it: “Everything you were taught can be put into a few words: Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about.”

Life is a vapor, impossible to completely manage and often frustrating. These realities humble us and drive us, at times, to despair. But hope remains for us as we turn our hearts to God, believing that the things of this life, even the harsh and difficult things, have ultimate meaning. Look outside of yourself to a mighty God, a transcendent being whom we must honor, and embrace a life of godly integrity, for these are the things that will last throughout this life and into the next.