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 that 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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