Seeking Meaning in a Fleeting World: The Wisdom of Ecclesiastes
September 26, 2024 - Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
Today, we begin reading the Book of Ecclesiastes, also known as Qohelet. This book belongs to the category of wisdom literature, and the author bases his observations on experience. The book lacks a clear structure and covers various topics such as friendship, the enjoyment of life, and the terrors of old age. However, for the author, the biggest problem that humanity faces is the problem of death. For Qohelet, death ends everything.
The book begins with the statement that "all is vanity" or "mere breath" (Eccl. 1:2). This is the most famous phrase from the Book of Qohelet. The Hebrew word "hevel," translated as "vanity," refers to a vapor exhaled in breathing. It can be seen on a cold day but disappears immediately. "Hevel" is the opposite of "ruah," the life-giving breath, the creative Spirit of God (Gen. 1:2). For Qohelet, life is fleeting and unpredictable. Whether wise or foolish, rich or poor, just or wicked, all end up in the grave.
The term "hevel" can also be rendered as "futility," referring to our inability to make sense of the world around us. The author, for example, asks: "What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?" (Eccl. 1:3). A Polish couple spent twenty years in New York, getting up at 4 a.m. and working until evening. This rat race led them to question the meaning of life. Finally, they decided to quit. They moved back to Poland and now live near "one of the last and the largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European Plain" (Wikipedia) — known as Białowieża Forest.
Qohelet observes the repetitive cycles of nature: the sun rising and setting, the wind's endless circuit. We can add the repetitive cycle of the four seasons. Life also feels like a series of endless routines: getting up early in the morning, going to school or work, coming back tired, and going to sleep. This repetitive cycle of life can be overwhelming and lead to an existential crisis. But it can also lead us to discover a deeper meaning of life hidden in the ordinary quality of every day.
"There is no remembrance of the men of old; nor of those to come will there be any remembrance among those who come after them" (Eccl. 1:11). We live, we die, and then... we are forgotten. Most of us will be forgotten within the span of three or four generations. Those few who are remembered longer are those who left a certain legacy behind in the form of religious movements, philosophical ideas, literature, scientific discoveries, or art. But we have no assurance that future generations will still remember them.
Behind all the observations of Qohelet that we hear today is an existential search for meaning, but the author seems skeptical that we will ever find it. Qohelet reminds me of J.P. Sartre and Albert Camus, who also doubted the meaning of human life. The only thing left for us, they suggested, is to face the meaninglessness of life with courage.
The answer to Qohelet's search for meaning is given in the Gospels. Jesus has revealed the meaning, the purpose, and the destiny of human life. We came from God, and we journey toward God. Our hearts will never find meaning unless we turn to Christ and find the meaning of life in Him, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (see John 14:6).