Articles
The Search for Meaning
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Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. . . . Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. (Eccl. 2:11, 17)
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In his autobiography, John Stuart Mill tells of an unsettling insight he experienced as a young man. As an exercise in self-reflection, he posed the following question to himself: "Suppose that all your objects in life were realized; that all the changes in institutions and opinions which you are looking forward to, could be completely effected at this very instant: would this be a great joy and happiness to you?"
After pondering the question for a while, he finally came to the conclusion that the most honest answer was, "No." He realized that even if he succeeded in transforming this world into everything he thought it should be, something would still be missing. That epiphany had a profound influence in charting the direction of his life.
Mill had stumbled upon the same truth that Solomon had discovered thousands of years before: External circumstances are not the door to inner peace. We long for a place of contentment and happiness in life, where all our needs are satisfied and the world poses no threat to our security. We have different avenues of pursuing that Nirvana: through hard work and thrift; through social activism; through carnal pleasure and excitement; through plumbing the depths of thousands of years of human knowledge and wisdom. Yet whichever path we choose, the end result is always the same: "vanity and grasping for the wind." The existential angst that is consuming our present generation--the most prosperous and privileged that has ever lived--proves that the paradigm hasn't changed.
Something is still missing, and we can't seem to put our finger on it.
Solomon resolved his search for meaning in life when he put God back in the equation. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Eccl. 12:13-14). Solomon came to realize that this world and its affairs are not the ultimate reality; there is a judgment and an eternity beyond this life, and it is that life upon which we should focus our efforts. In the meantime, our task here on earth is to respect God and His instructions for our conduct, no matter how impractical the world deems them to be.
If your major goals in life are confined to this realm, you're aiming too low. Cast your gaze upon a more distant haven, and discover a deeper contentment you did not know was possible.
--David
