All is Vanity Says the Preacher!

I just finished reading a most interesting book by Joyce Carol Oates called, A Widow's Story. It is a moving account of the death of her husband of 47 years whom she loved so much. Neither Joyce, nor her husband believed in God. In the book she is devastated by his death and is strongly tempted to commit suicide.

She tries to understand what it means that he is gone and then says, "Vanity of our lives. Vanity of our love for each other, and our marriage. Vanity of believing that somehow we own our lives."

She recalls a Scottish ballad that says,
"There once was a ship
And she sailed upon the sea.
And the name of our ship was
The Golden Vanity."

It seemed to her, I think, that all she had shared with her husband died that day with him. There was no hope for her of seeing him again. Nothing made sense and nothing mattered because he was gone forever.

This reminded me of the Book of Ecclesiastes. King Solomon felt the same about his life and all he had done.

"Vanity or vanities, says the Preacher. All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?"

He wrote of how he pursued wisdom and folly. How he tried to find meaning in pleasure and wine. He bought great possessions and saved up silver and gold. He had many wives and slaves. He lived in a palace and walked in his gardens. He ate the best foods He took whatever he desired. And then he sums up with the message:

"All was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun." The King did not find happiness or fulfillment in these things.

This is the summation of a life apart from God: Vanity - Lack of usefulness, worth, or effect.

Jesus said,
"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world (vanity) but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?"

No. Nothing is worth more than your soul. Why follow vanity, when you could follow a
God who died for you and will give you more than the whole world could give?