Readings for the day: Ecclesiastes 1-6
Robin Williams. Kate Spade. Anthony Bourdain. These are the famous faces of suicide. I could name several more from my own community who are not as famous. Kids. Young adults. Men and women in their late fifties and early sixties who feel they have nothing left to live for. According to the CDC, suicide rates have spike 30% in half of the states in the US in the last twenty years. It is now a leading cause of death, ranking tenth on the list. It’s causes are manifold. Mental health problems. Relationship issues. Job loss. Financial pressures. Substance abuse. And it often strikes without warning. Colorado has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation and Douglas County, where I live, struggles significantly with this issue. I remember back in 2014, four teenagers in our area taking their own lives in the span of 11 days! And it’s unfortunately a rare year when I don’t perform the funeral of at least one suicide victim.
“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) The writer of Ecclesiastes (traditionally ascribed to Solomon) clearly takes a dim view of life. Work is vanity. Riches are vanity. Pleasure is vanity. Success is vanity. Wisdom is vanity. All is vanity. What do we gain by working so hard? No one remembers us after we’re gone. Our wealth is passed on to another to enjoy. The righteous and unrighteous both die and are laid in the grave. All end up as dust. Clearly the Teacher is depressed. He looks around at all he has accomplished in his life and abandons all hope. He finds no meaning in anything he has done or accomplished. All he has to show for all his hard work and toil and pursuit of wisdom is sorrow. Grief. Pain. “For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” (Ecclesiastes 1:18) “So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.” (Ecclesiastes 2:17) It’s not easy to read. It’s feels like we’re reading the Teacher’s personal journal and hearing his inmost thoughts as he grapples with despair. A similar cord is struck when one reads Mother Theresa’s journals which were published posthumously.
One of the things I love most about the Bible is its honesty. It is raw. Gut-wrenching at times. It never sugar-coats or glosses over the harsh realities of life. Solomon in all his wisdom struggled with depression. Solomon for all his wealth and power felt inadequate. Solomon for all his success and achievement felt insecure. I imagine everyone can identify with him on some level. No matter how much you achieve. How much you accumulate. How popular you become. It’s never enough. It’s vanity and a striving after the wind.
So what’s the answer? We’ll find out when we finish the book tomorrow. After all has been said and done, the Teacher comes to one final, critically important conclusion. “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13) In fact, some suggest we need to read Ecclesiastes back to front instead of front to back. I disagree. I believe it is important for us to follow the Teacher’s example. Grapple with our own darkness and despair. Face our depression and anxiety and fear. Honestly come to grips with the utter hopelessness we have without Christ. What makes Ecclesiastes so powerful even to this day is the way it speaks to our hearts about idolatry. We have a tendency to place our trust in our own wisdom. Our own strength. Our own accomplishments. Our own wealth. Our own toil and hard work. Our pursuit of pleasure. Ecclesiastes exposes these idols as empty and meaningless which, in turn, points us back to God.