Meaning

I like to consider myself a realist. Often times realists come across more as pessimists, because realists usually confront optimism with something grounded in what seems more normal and bring the optimists down a notch. My dude Solomon understands me though. Ecclesiastes to me is one of the foundational pieces of literature on Christian existentialism in all of Scripture. He connects reality with every area of life from work, to pleasure, to seasons of life, to oppression, companionship, wisdom, money, advancement, and so on. It's great! But there are two ways to read this book. I started out reading Ecclesiastes with a lens of pessimism. Yes, he's right. Nothing I do is original. My legacy will be forgotten eventually. My money will possibly be inherited by a child who will misuse it. All my wisdom will be lost when my mind goes out in old age or when I die. Life is harder than death. And the list of sad realities goes on. I was somehow comforted that someone understood me in embracing these sad but true sentiments. But that is not how I read these texts anymore.

The reality of Jesus changes things. There is one passage, Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 (NIV), that changes everything in the light of Jesus. "A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God." So there is a path to having satisfaction. When everything is done for God and because of him, everything turns from being meaningless to meaningful. God is the basis for meaning. Jesus, in his act on the cross, infused my life full of meaning. He died to show me I matter. That alone gets me up everyday. That I matter to God, is enough for me to choose life. And because of that, everything I do matters, for my actions remind others that they matter too. My toil is the opportunity to tell someone that they mean something to God. My journey of education is in the effort to better know how to show people they matter. My pleasure is to give others pleasure. My time reminds others that they are worth my time. 

So now I read Ecclesiastes with this lens. Everything is meaningful because of God. 

Thank you Jesus for making life meaningful.