June 26, 2025 - Ecclesiastes 1-6

We work hard all our lives.  We labor at this and that.  We make plans.  We set goals and reach out for them.  The question, then (which Solomon wisely asks), is:  “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?”  (1:3)  He adds:  “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind” (1:14).  And so, Solomon set himself to the task of discovering the real meaning and significance of life.  He tried self-indulgence, but that was vanity and striving after wind.  He tried wisdom, but he realized that the wise dies just as does the fool.  He performed good deeds and lived righteously, but in the end, he realized, we all return to dust.  He established relationships with others, only to realize that, one day, he would be forgotten.  Wealth and honor ultimately pass to others. We have our “day in the sun,” but then others take our place.  Solomon ultimately reaches a good and right and hopeful conclusion, which we’ll see at the end of Ecclesiastes.  For now, however, might I note simply that it’s good to examine our lives and ask questions such as those asked by Solomon.  What is the ultimate meaning of my life?  Are my priorities good and right?  Where will I find answers to these questions?  Finding answers, will I live by those answers?  At the end of the day, our hope is not in what we possess or achieve in this world; rather, our hope is in the resurrection and our future home with God.

But though earth’s fairest blossoms die,

And all beneath the skies is vain,

There is a land whose confines lie

Beyond the reach of care and pain.

Then let the hope of joys to come

Dispel our cares, and chase our fears:

If God be ours, we’re traveling home,

Though passing through a vale of tears.   -- David E. Ford (1831)