Where do you find meaning?
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, the teacher Qoheleth suggests that people often seek meaning in their possessions or their achievements, when in fact, such an endeavor is simply vanity, For what profit comes to a man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun? In fact, the truth we need to focus ourselves in is not a tangible one; true wisdom comes from an appreciation of all that God is doing in our midst. We pursue the temporary when in fact we need to focus on the eternal, the timeless that God has put into our hearts. Otherwise, all things are vanity! Psalm 90 similarly encourages us to seek wisdom of heart rather than of head: Teach us to number our days aright, the psalmist asks. God is a power beyond our comprehension, an extraordinary power at work in our lives, not because we earned it, deserved it but because God loves us. Imagine if we began each day aware that we are filled at daybreak with God’s kindness, and lived from that kindness!
Jesus similarly encouraged his disciples to beware privileging the temporal over the eternal: Take care to guard against greed, he tells them in Luke’s Gospel, for to hoard our possessions for ourselves is another form of vanity. The parable of the rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest but who dies before being able to enjoy his wealth is ample illustration of this essential truth. He believes he has found meaning in life, but that life will be cut short. As Paul tells the Colossians, if you were raised with Christ, seek what is above. All that is earthly will pass away; our focus must be on what is above. If we consider in every instance how what we are about to do relates first to Christ, we might find new meaning in our every action. For true meaning comes from the knowledge that Christ is all and in all.
What if we lived all of our life in Christ, for the sake of Christ? What if all we gained in life became gift for other for the sake of the Lord, rather than for our own sense of achievement, our own sense of meaning? What if we found true meaning in what God was accomplishing in and through us, rather than in our own vainglorious achievements? Then we would have identified that which is truly valuable, a meaning both timeless and intangible, a meaning found only in Christ.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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