Have you read that book of the OT? One dark chapter after another... a lot like your post, although your post was much more concise.
Here are some echoes of what you said. All quotes are from the NIV...
Ec 1:14 - I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Ec 2:1 - I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless.
(Having fun isn’t the point.)
Ec 2:11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
(Working hard isn’t the point.)
Ec 2:21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
(Leaving a great legacy behind you isn’t the point.)
Ec 2:23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
(All the struggle of life, giving you insomnia, making you wonder, over and over, what's the point?)
Ec 3:19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless.
(Being "evolved"--being supposedly “better” than the animals—AKA humanism, without God sustaining it--isn’t the point.)
Ec 4:4 And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
(Competition isn’t enough to keep us going, either!)
Ec 4:8 There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless-- a miserable business!
(Sacrificing a personal life for a successful career…that REALLY isn’t enough.)
Ec 5:10 -
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
(Money doesn’t buy happiness…yeah, we know that… why do we still struggle not to believe it?)
Ec 6:2
God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
(Even those who manage to “have it all” struggle with depression. That sucks!)
Ec 7:15
In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
(“Only the good die young”—that sucks, too.)
Ec 8:14
There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
(If you’re waiting for the vindication of people “getting what they deserve” before you get resolution and get on with your own life…you’re likely to be deeply disappointed.)
Ec 9:9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun--all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.
(Notice how no one seems to be reading THIS verse at weddings!)
Ec 11:10 So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.
(Having your health isn't even the point…)
Ec 12:8 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Everything is meaningless!"
After going ON AND ON AND ON about all this…here’s the conclusion of Ecclesiastes:
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
From this dark, dark book, a bittersweet-hopeful ending: “God’s still God.” And from this--and so many other places in Scripture--I infer that meaning in life is found through obedience to God’s commandments. Everything else must be subject to that higher meaning:
Luke 10: 25-28 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
I think these two broad commandments—love God and love your neighbor—would be my answer to your question.
As for loving others when it's downright risky (which Jesus went on to illustrate in the parable that followed the verses above), what is the point? Especially when you're taking a risk to care for someone who refuses to appreciate--much less reciprocate--your love? Now, that is a painful question. And one that God might never answer to us, at least not in our earthly life. But it is a path that he has been willing to undertake himself.
“But what’s the point?” is a question I hear in my head a lot, when I believe God is asking me to love himself, or love someone, in a way that costs me. There may not be an answer; to move forward without knowing the answer is the faith part of it all. For me, anyway. |