What Brings Meaning to Life?

Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says he Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

When we look around at what is happening in our country and world, we might be tempted to ask the question, “What does it all mean? Where is this all heading?” Both these questions are great questions that point to ultimate goals and aspirations.

One of the greatest writings, in my opinion, on the subject of living a meaningful life is the short book of Ecclesiastes in the Scriptures. King Solomon, who had everything at his fingertips, went on a quest to answer these two questions. The book outlines his journey and conclusions. Wise people understand the importance of answering these questions in reference to our lives and our journey in this world.

One of the important themes in this book is that the author divides the universe into things “under the sun” and those that aren’t. His search in the book is all about what happens when we search for the answers in one realm only. If we do this, if we look only “under the sun” we will not find an answer that truly satisfies.

So from the human author’s perspective, where is under the sun? Well, I don’t think we have to look too far. What is up in the sky during the day? That’s right, the sun. We are under the sun. This whole world is under the sun. Every solution that only looks in this world for an answer is “under the sun.”

So what does the author mean by the word “meaningless?” The overwhelming majority of uses of this word in the Old Testament Scriptures occur right here in this book. It is meaning similar to the word for breath, wind. It is paired several times in the text with the words “a chasing after the wind.” So this chasing helps us understand some of what he means by meaningless.

Have you ever tried to catch a soap bubble being blown by a swift wind? It is really hard to determine exactly where to grab in order to grip your prey. Children gleefully run around in an effort to catch these elusive objects. And as soon as they grasp them, they are gone, never to be reformed.

Now imagine trying to grasp the wind. Elusive. But try to determine exactly where the wind will go before you head out the door. It is a true mystery, an enigma. It is hidden behind forces and complexity that we might partially understand, but we still can’t predict where a particular molecule will end up.

So as the author lays out his pursuits of the many ways that humans try to find meaning and purpose in this world he finds that of them fall short. He looked to knowledge, pleasure, legacy, justice, solitude, promotion, riches, immortality, and investments and all failed at the task. He wanted to find meaning and purpose, but when he reached out his hand to grasp it from these sources, he always came up empty.

So as we evaluate our journey today, where are we reaching our hand to find fulfillment, contentment, joy, or peace? I hope it isn’t “under the sun.” If it is, at the end of the day, you will be disappointed.