Meaning(Less) of Life ; An Ecclesiastes Study

Life is like smoke

Life is like smoke. It's beautifully, meaningless. Life's path is so blurry and yet not pointless. It looks solid but try to grab it and you'll find yourself disappoint. It's understandably un-understandable. That's what we called Hevel.

Hevel has been mentioned almost 40 times in this chapter and was mentioned in several books as well such as Jobs, Psalms, even in James's letters. Hevel is also the name of Cain's brother. Yes, Hevel and Abel is the same word. And perhaps that's the point of Hevel after all, my dear reader. When we read the story of Cain & Abel, sometimes we questioned about Cain's respond such as 'why did he do such horrible things?' or 'Why did his sacrifice is not pleased by God?' Well, now let's take a little turn and have a question for Abel.

Did Abel is a horrible man? Of course not, but why did he got killed first? He's an honorable man, right? Favored by God and probably by their parents as well, but why he was murdered? Why did he die first? Is there anything wrong with his life? If it's true, then why? Can you answer it? And that's the meaning of Hevel, my friend. Hard to understand. Although some translations consider Hevel as meaningless, it's not merely meaningless. The real meaning of Hevel in answering life's questions is that to know the meaning of life is hard to understand.

In my opinion, Ecclesiastes is one of the greatest books that I've ever read in the bible. It's not just enlightening, but it's also had a lot of deep-meaning and hard truth to be received. I was once an atheist even though I've learned about Christianity since I was a little boy. Several years after that, I think that It's so pointless in having a religion if I can't correlate what I've learned in the bible with my life. I've been a loyal believer to Jesus, but I didn't think that I was personally attached to Him. I didn't know Him, much, and I thought it was best to leave Him if there's a better option.

And one of the most revealing and relieving books in my life to start kicking my mind and became more aware of my surroundings is this book. Ecclesiastes. King Solomon was not trying to tell us that life is meaningless, and we should all forget everything that we think we know and just pursue the good and pleasurable things in our lives. Hevel in this context wants to remind us, the readers, that everything that you think you know it's good for you, pleasureful, brings you happiness and comfort, is just like a smoke. Although it's beautiful, it fades quickly.

Don't try to pursue things that will only lead you to suffer and disappointment, at the end of the day. And that's what I've learned in the Ecclesiastes that has never been mentioned in any books in the bible that I've read. This understanding, attached to my mind and soul, very deeply, thus I've never been the same again, since then. From a naïve little boy, had turned to be a less naïve little man. From trying to explain and observe causalities in every problem in life, turned into a 'not giving a fuck at all' attitude.

Yup, I think the book 'Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck', is a modern literature for Ecclesiastes. For a brief review, this book has a similar style and character with Ecclesiastes. It looks like, the writer promotes Nihilism, but after all, it's not! Otherwise, he promotes Essentialism (it's one of the philosophy-belief that all humans have their life purpose) and in his book, he explicitly said that "To have a 'not giving a fuck' mindset, is not about getting rid of everything and not giving a fuck of all things. On the contrary, it's about 'giving a fuck' for some things that important in life and 'not giving a fuck' for other things that are trivial."

And that's the proper interpretation of Ecclesiastes in short, and a full understanding of Hevel as well. Is it deep? Of course! Is it understandable? Of course, not! At least, not in an easy, chewable, and bite-sized meaning. Although this book is a little bit dark and cynic, it's the purpose to make humans wiser (with also the help of proverbs and Jobs in wisdom literature) in responding to life's problems and situations. To try to let go of our previous understanding and to make us ready to face the future, even death itself! To not let ourselves distracted with 'causality' mindset when things get tough in our life.

I think that's one of many ways to find meanings in life. To find ourselves amid Hevel. To let yourself be in the chaos and darkness and be comfortable with it. Once again, it's not about being nihilist and apathy to the world, but to make us get used to uncertainty and absurdity. And when we're in that situation, to always seek something meaningful and important to do, not just fun and expedient things. But if that so, is it too much to ask? Well, it's the only thing that could help us survive in this world.

We all know that this world is a tough place to live, full of suffering and pain, and so in order to gain meanings in this situation is not just difficult, it's almost impossible! How can you find a meaning of life, if there are so many things to do? Being a good child in the family, be responsible to our spouse, to finish our duty as a student or worker (or even both), and other hard stuff to do. We all have our problems and none of them are smaller or less important than the others, but we still have something to think about.

It's not another duty or job, but it's about calling and meaning. It's about our conscience and soul. To know what's something worthwhile, something valuable, so that we could endure in this chaotic situation. Humans are not just creature that 'do', but it's a creature that 'be'. A living organism that not just eat, drink, and sleep, but to do meaningful things or at least contribute to making the surroundings not worse. Yes, to find meaning in life is not just important, but it's essential for our existence and lives! We are the aiming-creatures.

And for the conclusion, hopefully, we all know that Hevel is never meant to address us, to forget everything and not giving a fuck for anything at all. Hevel isn't mean to put a belief, that 'We're all going to die and forgotten, after all. So, why bother to do anything?". Hevel isn't MEANINGLESS! It's harder than that. Hevel is about trying to understand the understandable, to see things beyond the smoke, and perhaps stop to try to catch the vapor, but to appreciate its beauty, and let it fade, gracefully. Hevel is about to find meanings in Everything Under the Sun. And that's what we're going to talk about in the next chapter. Hopefully, it's still going great with you guys and enjoy this reading.

Find meanings amid the chaos

Difficult to understand, even harder to live with this word

Conclusion

Next materials – Everything under the sun