No Stone Unturned

Qoheleth begins his search - applying his mind to seek out and search all of life under the sun. And this isn't just theoretical research either! He is going to do a deep dive into experientially testing and tasting all that there is to test and taste. To see if he can get a read on the world! To try to straighten out what is crooked and discern what might be hidden. To wring every last drop out of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and see if he can find meaning wherever meaning is to be found.

And he starts his search with wisdom. Applies his mind to know and explore wisdom. And finds it lacking. Like grasping at straws. Elusive at best. And frankly, it only multiplies grief and sorrow. Pleasure? Wine? Turns out to be futile. "So maybe wealth?" he thinks. He increases his possessions and accumulates all the riches there are to be accumulated. Nothing he desires does he withold, and when all the great hordes of possessions are amassed, he sits back and says, "Strike two." He turns back to consider wisdom again because there is a relative value there. It is, after all, better than folly. It's better to walk in the light with your eyes open than stumble down a dark hallway stubbing your toe with each step. But at the end of the day, wisdom and folly get you to the same place. It can't be the answer. And as he soon notes, neither can work. Some might have seen his pursuit of wealth and countered, "It's not about all the things that your labor can accumulate! It's about the labor itself! That's the true reward! A job well done! A sense of pride at what you have accomplished." Qoheleth says, "That breaks down too." Even the greatest work is left in the hands of another after you die and what's to stop him from being a fool? And all of it being squandered?

Qoheleth's comprehensive search comes up empty - like all the sand has slipped between his fingers. Or has it? Because he finds something worth taking note of here. "There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God's hand, because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him." One surprising remedy to the futility of life is to enjoy life. To not make things under the sun bigger than what they are lest they disappoint with their emptiness - but to actually appreciate them for what they are! Gifts given by God. It's in this vein that wisdom, knowledge, joy, work, food, pleasure find their place! To the one who gathers and gathers and accumulates and accumulates all of those things as ends in themselves - he will be sorely disappointed. In fact, what he has will be given to another. But to the one who keeps them in their place? And derives the intended measure of satisfcation from created gifts? This will be pleasing in God's sight and, honestly, there's nothing better for a person to do!