Journey of Meaning
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February has been full of travel. I love to travel and it’s not a complaint, but I have gotten behind on everything as a result. This blog post being one of those things! When I write I need a chunk of quiet time and it’s usually not something I complete in one setting. I’ve been a bit distracted and feel sort of disjointed this week but I’m not giving up. I’m going to persevere and get this out there!
I was reading Proverbs and then Ecclesiastes the last couple of days. I’ve heard a suggestion, and my husband Nick has actually done this in some form, to read one chapter of Proverbs everyday for a month. There are 31 chapters and 30-31 days in a month, so March 1st would be a great time to start. I’m going to take the challenge and hope you will too.
So I was thinking about an analogy about life and train tracks. I love analogies if you haven’t figured that out by now. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and a good analogy is worth a thousand pictures. I agree! Train tracks are two separate rails running parallel. Like the train tracks, life has hardship and difficulty as well as blessings and happiness simultaneously running parallel to one another. There is always something to be grateful for, and there is always something that is a challenge. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that there will come a time in life when everything comes together and falls into place and we’ll finally be happy. We forget what I’m pretty sure we’ve all heard that, “life is a journey not a destination.”
We focus on the goals we have, and believe that when those goals are met, we’ll be at that place where the things that will supposedly make us happy have come together. I’ve never been a person who had great career goals. My dream as little girl was to get married, have children and a house with a white picket fence. There are others who are very goal driven and motivated in their careers and/or education. All good. Dreams, goal setting, planning are all very positive attributes, but regardless of whether you want to be a stay at home mom, or a neurosurgeon, or President of the United States, achieving the goal alone will not bring lasting happiness and contentment.
Solomon was the author of the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs in the Bible. The main purpose of Ecclesiastes is the same goal we as parents have. It’s purpose was to “try and spare future generations the bitterness of learning through their own experience that life is meaningless apart from God.” Don’t we all wish that our children could learn from our mistakes and resulting wisdom rather than have to fail and learn on their own? I most definitely agree with Solomon. Life apart from God is meaningless. We may accomplish great things, save lives as a neurosurgeon, and change the world by raising well rounded, spiritually and emotionally healthy kids who are contributing members of society. These amazing dreams and goals once realized should be fully celebrated. These types of accomplishments matter greatly and are to be celebrated and commended to the fullest. But apart from the God who created us, who loves us, and gifted us with the abilities to reach these goals, the accolades will eventually go quiet, the lights will dim, and newer accomplishments will overshadow ours.
I am in no way saying that success and accomplishment aren’t important, and I’m also in no way saying they are wrong or negative, quite the contrary. We are called to work as though we were working for Jesus himself and he loves to see us succeed and do well. What I am saying is that if this is where our hope lies we unfortunately have a rude awakening coming. Solomon was a man who had everything this world can offer. He was the third king of Israel and ruled a reign of peace, had great wisdom, intellect, power, and wealth. Solomon was a very successful and well respected man. A world leader that other world leaders looked to for guidance and to learn from. The man had it all...and yet he wrote, “Everything is meaningless...utterly meaningless! Generations come and go but nothing really changes.”
“Ecclesiastes shows that certain paths in life lead to emptiness. This profound book also helps us discover true purpose in life. Such wisdom can spare us from the emptiness that results from a life without God. Solomon teaches that people will not find meaning in life through knowledge, money, pleasure, work, or popularity. True satisfaction comes from knowing that what we are doing is part of God’s purpose for our life. This is a book that can help free us from our scramble for power, approval, and money, and draw us closer to God.” (Study Bible)
Records are made to be broken. The Winter Olympics just ended and I didn’t watch enough to know if there were any new records made. I do remember Michael Phelps setting records in the last summer Olympics however, and I also know he struggled with depression. Fame, money, incredible talent, amazing opportunities...and he’s depressed.
The first ten years of our marriage we lived in a two bedroom condo. I was grateful but I had dreams of a yard for my kids to play in, cookouts, and entertaining friends. When we purchased our house I was so excited and couldn’t wait to move in! It was new construction so we had several months to wait, dream, and anticipate our lives there. We picked out our colors, cabinets, floors, and finally move in day arrived. It was truly a dream come true. But the first night in our beautiful new home, I was genuinely homesick for my little two bedroom condo. That condo was full of memories, it’s where I brought my babies home from the hospital. It’s where Nick and I grew together from 22 and 26 year old newlyweds to parents with responsibilities, dreams to dream and life to live. This house as beautiful as it was, was simply that; a nice house. It had not become a home because there were no memories yet. I hadn’t welcomed my husband home from work or kids home from school, baked cookies, had family dinners in this kitchen, decorated a Christmas tree, or had birthday parties.
A life based on meeting certain standards we believe will fill us with meaning, fulfillment, and happiness is like living in a house with no memories. It is the relationships, love, and resulting memories that change a house into a home. And it is in relationship with our gracious, loving, forgiving, merciful, God full of love, laughter, blessedness peace, and purpose that we find our meaning and reason for living in this beautiful, crazy, mixed up, world.
In Jeremiah 29:11-13 God says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’”
“In Ecclesiastes, Solomon shows us that we should enjoy life, but his does not exempt us from obeying God’s commands. We should search for purpose and meaning in life, but they cannot be found in human endeavors. We should acknowledge the evil, foolishness, and injustice in life yet maintain a positive attitude and strong faith in God.”
Solomon ends the book of Ecclesiastes with this. “Here is my final conclusion: Fear (respect and reverence) God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person.”
And I’ll end with this. Not only is it the duty of every person, it is the privilege of every person, because He is so so good and He will give you more than you ever dreamed possible when you give him control. I’ve experienced exactly that.
