A Meaningful Life

Two pessimists went out to dinner. Instead of shaking hands, they just shook heads. –Based on the book of Ecclesiastes, some might think that Solomon was a pessimist. For instance, he begins by saying “everything is completely meaningless (1:2) and that theme echoes throughout its passages. However, I would say that Solomon was more of a realist, who experienced all the best things this life had to offer and found them to be lacking. They were incapable of providing lasting satisfaction or genuine fulfillment. Yet, he did ultimately realize the true meaning of life: “Fear God and obey his commandments” (12:13).

Ecclesiastes is one of five books known as “Wisdom” or “Poetry” literature in the Bible, along with Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and The Song of Solomon. It is also one of the so-called “Festival Scrolls,” which are read during different Jewish feast days. Ecclesiastes is read every fall in the synagogues during the Feast of Tabernacles.

The book records Solomon’s intense search for meaning in life, and even though he was the wisest man on the planet with unlimited resources to pursue whatever his heard desired, he concludes that everything is futile. There is still a void that no material thing can fill. As C.S. Lewis famously said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation is that we were made for another world.”

I would say that Ecclesiastes is one of the most relatable books of the Old Testament, because all of us at one time or another has tried to find fulfillment in the things of this world only to be left disappointed. We too have longed for something more. A farmer had an old dog that spent much of his time sitting by the road waiting for big trucks to come by. When the dog saw a truck approaching, he would wait for it to pass and then take off down the road barking and doing his best to catch up. One day, a neighbor said, “Sam, do you think that hound of yours will ever catch a truck?” The farmer replied, "I just wonder what he would do if he ever did catch one!” –Many of us are like that hound. We give our lives to pursuing goals that would have little value if we ever succeeded in reaching them. And that is really what Ecclesiastes is trying to convey. A meaningful life is a Master-full life!