Life is hard...and then you die.

When I was in grad school at ACU I was given the assignment of writing a treatise on the theology of the book of Ecclesiastes. The title of this blog is the title I gave that paper. I love reading that book. The author seems to have such a fresh, clear perspective on life. I have known some over the years who say Ecclesiastes is negative and depressing. I heartily disagree. I think it is written by a realist who is trying his best to offer his experience to any who will listen in order to help them not have to learn the hard way as he did. This book is filled with brilliance.

In some ways. life today seems harder than it used to be. My teens are all running in circles for so many reasons. School has them running ragged and competing for top grades unlike I remember in years past. It certainly wasn't this competitive when I was in high school. All the extra-curricular activities from dance to sports to cheer to band and choir demand so much more from these kids. Almost every sport has become year round with off season training and practice. School performances have become major productions, requiring months of preparation and commitment. It is all so much work! As the writer of old would say - it feels like chasing after the wind.

In the end, I find myself having to scream more loudly in ways that were never before necessary to be heard above the din of activity in my students' lives. I have to plead for them to give some time to youth group or a retreat or a Bible study or just an afternoon to hang out for coffee or a coke and just talk. In the end, how many of them give away their adolescence days to football or dance or any number of time-robbing activities in which they will never "go pro." For what?...a letter to put on a jacket?....the possibility of a college scholarship so they can give up their college experience to another tyrannical schedule with coaches and games and more need for high performance?

I ache for so many of my teens. I ache for my own kids when the race seems to grab them by the soul and make them feel inadequate if they take time to relax, or play or just enjoy an afternoon doing nothing more than just being!

Oh yes, I definitely relate to the writer of Ecclesiastes. This all seems meaningless and chasing after the wind. In the end he gives a great short-hand to the life lived by perspective. Listen to these words from Ecclesiastes chapter 12:
Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
"I find no pleasure in them"

It seems those days come earlier than they used to. He ends by reminding us that the best we can do with our days is to fear God and keep his commandments In the end nothing else matters.

Adding my two cents, take some in the next few days to do nothing and take someone else with you. It just might be the most productive thing you do all week!