Immerse: Poets Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 270
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IMMERSE
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POETS
5:15–6:12
and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s
children. We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed
as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.
And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better
off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working
for the wind. Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated,
discouraged, and angry.
Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for
people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short
life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good
thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy
your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. God
keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood
over the past.
There is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs
heavily on humanity. God gives some people great wealth and honor and
everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance
to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up
enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless—a sickening tragedy.
A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he
finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would
have been better for him to be born dead. His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a
name, and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet
he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man.
He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment.
And since he must die like everyone else—well, what’s the use?
All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to
have enough. So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people
gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?
Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just
dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each
person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.
The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?
In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can
best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen
on this earth after we are gone?
