The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible is one of the most fascinating books to read and study. What it says about life and the human condition is just as relevant in today's society as it was when it was first written almost 3000 years ago, making it one of the oldest books of the Bible. One of my favorite verses, which still speaks powerfully today, comes in the beginning of chapter 6. He says "I have seen another evil under the sun and it weighs heavily on men. God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them."
Isn't that statement so relevant to our modern culture? How many countless times have we heard superstars, with everything in the world, break down and admit that even with all they've done and attained, they still haven't found meaning in life. I think of the famous Tom Brady, at the height of his career asked by an interviewer about his life, and he responded that whatever real life is, he still hadn't found it.
Hearing testimonies like that one and reading verses like the one in Ecclesiastes, it made me think about my life a lot differently at an early age. As a high schooler growing up in a big city, I wanted what everyone wanted: to grow up, have a house, a good job and make lots of money. That's just what people do. And yet, these kinds of notions kept creeping into my mind asking me "is that really all that life's about? Is the guy with the huge house and great job really all that much happier than I am?"
And the answer, I found, was no. And it makes sense. For all of the physical possessions that we have in life, we ourselves are the ones who assign meaning to them. A jet ski would really only be satisfying and meaningful to me if I was the type of person that derived satisfaction from being out on a lake or the open water of the sea, with the wind and the sun on my face. That's why your average American doesn't jet ski, apart from the fact that it's expensive, because they don't particularly find meaning in being on the open water.
So the question must be asked: If we're the ones who give meaning to the things we possess, then how could we ever expect that having lots of money and lots of things would ever provide satisfaction to our lives? It's seems pretty obvious when you look at it from that standpoint doesn't it?
But I don't think modern America would ever say something like that. It'll tell you that if a person really wanted to live their lives to the full, they need ambition, to work, work, work for financial freedom and independence. It sounds fine and good, but financial freedom and independence aren't an end in an of themselves, they're both just a means to an end.
Can we really not come up with a better system in this country than to get ourselves educated for 25 years, just to spend the next 30 years paying for a place to sleep, saving up enough money so that we can finally retire for a decade, or two if we're really healthy. There has to be a better way. I think one of the first steps is just to realize that possessions can never bring meaning or satisfaction into our lives. But that's a big step, not one easily taken in our modern age. But that's why I love books like Ecclesiastes. They show us that not much has changed, even in 3000 years.
Copyright (c) 2010 Lucille Uttermohlen
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