Meaningless, meaningless

[a friend asked me for my take on the book of ecclesiastes. i thought it worth sharing with the rest of you.]

have i told you that ecclesiastes is my favorite book of the bible? i've lapsed a bit in this tradition, but i used to make a point of reading it at the beginning of every school year. i need this: the Teacher launches a full-scale assault on the values that we ambitious types are always pulled toward.

i say, "become great!" and the teacher says, "i became great and surpassed all who were before me...and again, all was vanity and a chasing after the wind."

i say, "work harder!" and the teacher says, "what gain have the workers from their toil?"

i say, "study harder!" and the teacher says, "of making books there is no end."

i say, "party!" and the teacher says, "pleasure...was also vanity."

i say, "create something novel!" and the teacher says, "there is nothing new under the sun."

i say, "know more!" and the teacher says, "those who increase knowledge increase sorrow."

i say, "communicate!" and the teacher says, "the more the words, the less the meaning."

i say, "understand the world!" and the teacher says, "no one can find out what is happening under the sun."

i say, "leave a legacy!" and the teacher says, "in the days to come all will have been long forgotten."

i say, "change the world!" and the teacher says, "a generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever."

the teacher puts every shred of my shallow idealism to shame. all of those things i would love to find meaning, purpose, and identity in are meaningless, chasing after the wind.

ecclesiastes is basically destructive, not constructive: it destroys illusions, but does almost nothing to replace them with the right view of things. that's in keeping with what the teacher says--"a time to break down, and a time to build up". but how does one go about rebuilding, after this book so utterly lays to waste?

the teacher gives just a few small clues--the refrain to enjoy what god gives us, and finally: "remember your creator."