is that all there is

Sunday August 4^th, Ecclesiastes 1 & 2: 2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.   "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." 12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.  You can look at this two ways.  One, either this guy needs his meds, or two, maybe he just has discovered what we all need to discover in life, that if all we are after is our own gain, what we gain is nothing.  Looking at knowledge, learning, pushing to do better, these are all good things.  It is the basis of the Book of Proverbs. 80% of the time it works and life turns out well, although, in the end, meaningless.  The old song, “Is that all there is?” comes to mind (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCRZZC-DH7M). I am glad my cell phone is ten times the computer my computer in seminary was.  I am glad research is being done on solar cells, electric cars, batteries and environment, all of humanity will benefit greatly from these endeavors.   The difference is between the pursuit of knowledge for the “I” verse the pursuit of knowledge for the “we.”  Descartes used the term, I think, therefore I am (Cognito Ergo Sum).  What God calls us to is I Love, therefore I am (Amo Ergo Sum).  Thinking is being for the self, whereas love extends that thinking, or whatever else we do to the “us” which includes ALL of us.  It is not the unexamined life that is meaningless, it is the one which is lived only for the self.  When you are done, all you have left is the empty shell of yourself filled with empty knowledge.  God calls us into relationships.  We are called to love one another.  John even connects it with the promise, this is what will make your life complete, the opposite of meaninglessness, to love one another as I have loved you.