The opening words of the teacher, son of David, declare "Meaningless! Meaningless!" If you didn’t get it the first time he leaves no doubt as to what he means "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." Most people prefer to sugar coat reality to make it more palatable as in “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” (Mary Poppins) Or they defy reality as in, "The one who dies with the most toys wins!" (Malcolm Forbes) The teacher prefers to tell it like it is. He hates the things for which he toiled and despairs of his striving under the sun. Even if you work with wisdom, knowledge and skill you can’t take it with you when you go and others will profit from your pain. The one who dies with the most toys still dies. This might lead one to despair of life but that is not what the teacher declares as meaningless. Vanity of vanities is how the old version goes and that puts the emphasis where it belongs. What is meaningless is a sugar coated reality that convinces one circumstances can be controlled, the future can be made secure by the accumulation of wealth or wisdom or that with enough effort chasing after the wind can put the breeze in your pocket. The teacher’s instruction is not that life is meaningless; rather life lived without meaning is vanity.
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