Meaningless …
“Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” - Ecclesiastes 1:2
So begins the Book of Ecclesiastes. Many people attribute this book to King Solomon, but much of it could be written by any 90’s grunge band or one of today’s emo kids.
Much of the book talks about how the big accomplishments of life are ultimately meaningless. Wisdom is a chasing after the wind. Pleasure is short-lived. Hard work is just grief and pain; meaningless. Even riches are empty.
Research shows this to be true. Jonathan Haidt’s book “Happiness Hypothesis” compares two people; Bob and Mary.
“Bob is thirty-five years old, single, white, attractive, and athletic. He earns $100,000 a year and lives in sunny Southern California. He is highly intellectual, and he spends his free time reading and going to museums.”
“Mary and her husband live in snowy Buffalo, New York, where they earn a combined income of $40,000. Mary is sixty-five years old, black, overweight, and plain in appearance. She is highly sociable, and she spends her free time mostly in activities related to her church. She is on dialysis for kidney problems.”
Who do you think is happier? Who would you want to trade places with?
Haidt’s research points to a surprising conclusion: Mary is far happier than Bob.
“What Mary has that Bob lacks are strong connections. A good marriage is one of the life-factors most strongly and consistently associated with happiness. Part of this apparent benefit comes from “reverse correlation”: Happiness causes marriage. Happy people marry sooner and stay married longer than people with a lower happiness setpoint, both because they are more appealing as dating partners and because they are easier to live with as spouses. But much of the apparent benefit is a real and lasting benefit of dependable companionship, which is a basic need; we never fully adapt either to it or to its absence. Mary also has religion, and religious people are happier, on average, than nonreligious people.”
The book of Ecclesiastes points us to a similar conclusion, discovered thousands of years before Haidt’s research. The teacher concludes his book with this command:
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” -Ecclesiastes 12:13
We may daydream about being rich, wise, promoted, and popular … but none of that brings true joy or meaning to life. We find meaning and joy as we build deep connections to God and His people. Everything else is a chasing after the wind.
With You;
Pastor Tim
