Considering Futility

The past several days have found me reading the book of Ecclesiastes. Nothing like the challenge of reading several chapters of a work that starts out bemoaning the "futility of everything". Wow...and yet I kept reading.

I sometimes feel great compassion for people who pick, at random, various places to start reading a Bible. Some passages flow seamlessly and entice the reader to keep going. Some, with all the begetting, tend to make one turn to another random passage--unless you're truly into genealogy with a vengeance. And then there are the passages from Ecclesiastes...futility...futility...futility. Tough one to stick with, that one.

Think about a typical day--how much futility do we tolerate? Watched much tv lately? How many "news" (and I use that term loosely) shows are on that a)cite the obvious and b)repeat it ad nauseum? We're talking HOURS of our day. Add to this the mindless chatter on various radio stations and we have non-stop mongers of futility on two different levels. First, the futility of the litany of jabber. Second, the message that they all bring us is not one of hope or help, but merely futility.

As I read deeper into Ecclesiastes, I found a passage that made me smile: "Well, one thing, at least, is good: It is for a man to eat well, drink a good glass of wine, accept his position in life, and enjoy his work whatever his job may be, for however the Lord may let him live. And, of course, it is very good if a man has received wealth from the Lord, and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy you work and to accept your lot in life--that is indeed a gift from God. The person who does that will not need to look back with sorrow on his past, for God gives him joy."

So, I push the "futile" things in life aside and turn off the tv, the radio, and the news that gives me no suggestions for making a better life of the current mess. And I do eat well, drink a good glass of wine, accept my position in life and enjoy my work...and keep futility at bay.

Give it a try and have a fine day.