Living Life Through King Solomon’s Eyes

God of Heavenly Punishment (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“There was once a very, very rich man who found that riches did not satisfy.  His name was Solomon.  He wrote a book about it called Ecclesiastes.  This rich king had tasted just about everything life could offer.  Wealth?  No one could exceed him in luxury.  Wisdom?  The whole world knew how wise he was.  Fame?  He was king, the most famous man of his time.  Systematically he sampled all of life’s pleasures and powers, yet all ultimately disappointed him.  All prove meaningless.

“What is the point of life?” he asked.  You worked hard, and someone else gets all the credit.  You struggle to be good, and evil people take advantage of you.  You accumulate money, and it just goes to spoiled children.  You seek pleasure, and it turns sour on you.  And everyone–rich or poor, good or evil, meets the same end.  We all die.  There is only one word to describe this life: meaningless.”

But, is it?  Is life really meaningless?  Is that all there is in life –the summary of the number of years we had live in this planet?  Does man’s existence on Earth simply goes and on until this planet or the entire universe gets obliterated by a decaying sun?

Surely, when humans try to ponder the unknown, tons of questions need to be answered. Is there such thing as an afterlife?  Is there a God?

In our vain attempts to give even the most preposterous explanations to the great unknown, they had also given rise to a multitude of religions, sects, cults, tribes, fan clubs or what have you.

On the other hand, mankind has been trying to use every scientific means to disprove any religious theories about the creation of just about everything the mind can think about.  That the universe – which our planet is but a tiny speck within – is but the result of a mega blast and that humans simply came about through a series of evolutions.

And that everything that the human mind could comprehend simply happens randomly.  Really?  Everything is just random?

Each individuals’ appearance on this planet may have occurred randomly at birth but have you ever wondered why life spans differ?  There are souls that don’t even see the light of day, others die young while some of our elders even express their desires to die so much earlier in their struggle to cope with the hardships and difficulties that accompany old age.

In the worldly context of King Solomon‘s search for life’s meaning, he also voiced the unfairness of life:

“People don’t get what they deserve.  Good men suffer while wicked men prospers.  Everything seems determined only by time and chance.”

And just how many times we had asked ourselves that we deserved more in this life?  Why does success, in whatever means we try to measure it, seem very elusive?  Why do we see other people seem to have all the comforts of life while others still wallow in poverty?

On the other hand, why do some people so suddenly give up a life of unbridled extravagance to be of service to the poorest of the poor — and find their true happiness in the process?

Our futile attempts to quantify life and find meaning in it is hampered, of course, by our very own making: the concept of time.

Time is the great equalizer and it measures, regulates and rule each and everyone’s lives.  There are no exceptions and short cuts.  We will all die.

Science and technology may have found some solutions in making our daily chores so much easier and, on a few cases, extend our lives a few years longer. But, there will never be an eternity for us in this planet as long as there is the concept of time.

We could all be likened to a mouse trying to catch its tail.

So, what then is the meaning of life?

It is the acknowledgment of a God who willed each and everyone of us to exist in this planet.

Oh, yeah? For what?

Faith and what happens to a person’s soul is something the human brain will never ever understand.

But, what is the ‘soul‘?  Simply, if you have a conscience, you have a soul.

Truly, life is, indeed, full of meaning…only if we live it through the eyes of King Solomon.

 

 

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