People
search far & wide for purpose & meaning in life. Some seek to find purpose
or meaning in relationships, success, power.
Often accomplishing one’s dream can lead to disappointment as it does
not fill the void of real purpose and meaning one was seeking. Others may give up becoming hopeless,
depressed and seek to escape by numbing the depression becoming addicted to
various escape avenues that lead to a downward spiral. Oscar Wilde once said; “In this world
there are two tragedies. One is not getting
everything one wants; the other is getting it.”
As I am winding down on the 70th year of my time on this planet I find myself thinking more and more about what I have done with those years and what I should do with whatever time I have left. I learned how delicate and tenuous life can be when I was 49. A fluke medical discovery, that I consider divine intervention, led to two major life-saving surgeries. My doctor told my wife; ‘this is usually discovered in the autopsy of a young man who appeared healthy but died suddenly’. I wake everyday with the physical and emotional scars that lead me to the reality that I could have easily died 21 years ago. I get up, even with the aches that come with being 70 and give thanks that I am still here. Life is a gift, a precious and very fragile gift, don’t waste it or throw it away!
I spend a lot of time thinking on several scriptures. First from the psalm of Moses, a man who knew about the ups and downs of life as much as anyone! In Psalm 90:10-12 he writes; “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Life in this ‘sin-scarred’ world truly has much trouble and sorrow. However, we are reminded that our days are numbered. We do not know the number of days we have but they pass quickly. A “heart of wisdom” knows each day could be the last so as Apostle Paul reemphasized hundreds of years later in Ephesians 5:16-17; “Make the most of your time; because these are evil times. So do not be foolish but learn what the Lord wants you to do.”
I find that the best advice concerning the way to make the most of our time comes from the words of one who is historically known as possessing, perhaps, more wisdom than anyone who has ever lived; King Solomon. He was not just a casual observer with comments. He possessed the mental capacity, power and wealth to explore virtually every avenue available to man in seeking meaning and purpose to life. He writes in Ecclesiastes 1:13; “I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!
He
expounds on his qualifications and experiences of his journey in the first 11
verses of the second chapter; “I said to myself, “Come now, I will test
you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be
meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is
madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine,
and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what
was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
I undertook great projects: I built
houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds
of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs
to water groves of flourishing trees. I
bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I
also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the
treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem
as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I
became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom
stayed with me. I denied myself nothing
my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all
my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that
my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless,
a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
However, his search was not in vain as he gives us the following basic teachings for making the most of our days under the sun.
- Make & maintain good relationships. He writes in chapter 4:9-12; “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. I don’t think I will ever forget the first funeral I conducted. I was still in seminary when a funeral director that I knew from our church asked if I would conduct a small service for a man who had no church affiliation but the family wanted a minister. I knew nothing about the deceased except that he looked like he was in his 50’s and even after the funeral director had done his best one could tell that he had lived a hard life. Counting myself, the deceased and the funeral director there were less than a dozen people attending the service. Afterward the best dressed attendee shook my hand and thanked me saying; “I want to thank you for doing this. I know you did not know him and honestly, we really didn’t know him well either. However, he was a family member and I felt like he deserved a decent burial.” What a sad lonely ending to life! I also remember Rabbi Harold Kushner’s story of watching children building sand castle. He could see that they were building too closely to the rising tide. They barely finished their construction when the waves washed all their work away. However, rather than being disappointed he watched them hold hands, laughing & running as waves came crashing destroying their labor. This taught him that, ‘The castles we may build in life are temporary and may crumble but can laugh if we are holding hands.” Make & maintain good relationships!
- Solomon names many injustices and
pain that can be part of life in this imperfect world. He teaches us to accept pain and
suffering as part of this life.
The human tendency is to avoid pain & suffering. We try taking pills, having a drink, denial
or isolate ourselves from people and situations that cause pain. One cannot avoid pain & suffering and
live in this unjust, sin-scarred world. Only Dead people feel no pain! Pain can actually be a way for God to
teach. Hebrews 2:10 says; “Everything belongs to God, and all things
were created by his power. So God did the right thing when he made Jesus
perfect by suffering, as Jesus led many of God's children to be saved and
to share in his glory.” Wow! Jesus was
made perfect through suffering!
Pain and suffering are often signs to change the way you
are living. Rather
than seeking to avoid pain and suffering it may be better to ask; “What
is God trying to teach me in this situation? What can I learn to do differently than
will be beneficial?”
- Live and savor each moment to its fullest potential. The best life is not found seeking continuous excitement and is not made up of great events but daily, often small moments to be cherished. I am again reminded of a story from Rabbi Kushner (Author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People & When All You Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough). He interviewed an elderly woman asking her to look back and tell him what she would have done differently if she could live her life over. She thought for a moment and said; “If I had it all to do over, I would eat more ice cream & less beans!”
Savor and enjoy each day!
