Ecclesiastes is the coolest book ever. Well not literally. It is definitely my favourite book, and while I was in Capernwray I attempted a Bible study on it. However due to my lack of time management I pulled it together in 2 nights which really wasn’t working and I feel I didn’t do it enough justice. Thus, this is my humble attempt to make things right again.
Unfortunately Ecclesiastes is not a popular book, possibly because it’s Old Testament and it’s kinda… depressing. If you haven’t read (or heard) of Ecclesiastes, this is the gist of it:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”“Is there anything of which one can say,
‘Look! This is something new’?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.”Ecclesiastes 1:2&10-11
This is pretty much what the whole book is like. The author then goes on explaining how wisdom is meaningless, pleasure is meaningless, toil is meaningless, advancement is meaningless and how everyone will die at the end. Yeah. It’s pretty depressing. To summarise, basically everything is a “chasing after the wind”.
But of course this was easy for the author to say, he had everything already. The first reason that people might not like this book is that they disagree or think it’s not applicable to them. For instance, I might say, “if I had 21 million dollars I would be happy.”
WRONG. Because science.
I was listening to a series of psychology lectures few weeks ago, and the lecturer talked about an interesting experiment. In essence, they asked a bunch of people who were applying for a high-positioned job how happy they are, and how happy they would be if they got the job. Needless to say that people reckoned they would be “happier” once they got the job. Then the psychologists went away and came back a few month later and asked them the same question. But as it turns out, people rustically overestimated these things and their happiness doesn’t really change.
Now coming back to the Teacher in Ecclesiastes. I mean he had it all, yet he is still not happy. Possessions are not the key to happiness, in fact nothing is. This is terribly and unfortunately true: that anything we can obtain will never satisfy us completely. Status, wealth, even knowledge and love (in the sense of romantic, Hollywood love). An example of this would be when you open up a present. Yes you are genuinely happier at that instance, but in the long run, having the latest iphone is not going to change your life satisfaction.
Psychology has come to the conclusion that you are happier if you are healthy, knowledgeable, respected, sheltered, loved, cared for etc. etc. Interestingly, everyone who can read this blog is healthier, more well feed than most people in history. Yet we are not happier. People in 1950s are more vulnerable in 500 different ways, but they are as happy as you are today. Even in developing countries, there is not a massive difference as to how happy they are. Furthermore, there is a great difference in happiness in individuals. For example, most of the people who are reading this right now are mostly sheltered, cared, feed but some of you are far happier than others and some vice versa.
This is very interesting and has been puzzling psychologists for ages. However I should probably come back to Ecclesiastes. So after a good 2000 years, psychology and science has finally caught up with the Bible. As illustrates by the teacher in Ecclesiastes, material and tangible possessions are not the key to happiness. So what is?
This is probably common knowledge, and slightly cliche, but yes, happiness comes from within. If I were to use non-biblical terms to tell you how to be happy, I’d tell you this (summarised in a formula because formulas are clear and cool.)
Happiness= What you have
. What you want
So in essence, the less you want the happier you are. Unfortunately being accustomed to the human condition, we want a lot of things. Yes I can live without that bag of chips but I really want it. This simple fact pretty much dominates economics and the society but it’s probably a topic for another time.
Now, how am I going to explain this in Christian jargon to make me seem holier than you all. (That is sarcasm by the way, just to clarify that. I was told that sarcasm doesn’t travel well through the internet). To put it simply, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2, thank you PT)
From that equation we establish that the more content you are, the happier you will be. Obviously the Bible teaches you to be content in multiple occasions, like 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” or Hebrew 13:5, “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have.”
Needless to say that a non-Christian can be happy and content too. I have met some gratified non-Christians. But being Christians brings our contentment to a whole new level: while others are grateful for their possessions or status, we are grateful for a more fundamental thing – our life.
If you are a Christian it means that you acknowledge that fact that you are a sinner and you are not worthy to be saved, and to take it one step further: deserve this life. But the truth is that God loved you while you were a sinner, He knitted you together in your mother’s womb while you denied Him. He gave you life when you were not worthy. For this reason, we should be always thankful for our life, because we really don’t deserve it. While others are thankful for some more add-on type of things, our very life is a gift to us. Theoretically we should live through each moment, whether sorrow or joy, with abounding gratitude. This is why Sunday school teaches that song “I have joy like a fountain.” And, behold – This is the key to happiness.
So there you go, I’ve told you the secret to happiness. Now go strive in the wild! Be happy!
…Just kidding.
If one thing I learned from all the Bible studies and study papers that I have written, it is that understanding something is very different to applying it. Although I just wrote a thousand words on how to be happy, sometimes I still feel like banging my head against the table. This requires a conscious effort, you have to be on your guard and call yourself out when you are having a self-pity party or whining about a situation. A very good trick I learned from a friend during ABS is that when you catch yourself not being grateful, think of 3 things that you are thankful for. For example, it could be that I’m not paralyzed , I had 3 meals today and I have people that love me. It is a very practical and useful tip, hope it helps in your pursuit of happiness.
Now coming back to Ecclesiastes (once again), this what what the author has to say as a conclusion, and I would like to conclude with these verse too. In my NIV Bible, the heading for this part is titled “the Conclusion of the Matter”, and this is what it says.
“Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.”
(So for my next paper I’m thinking about either Ecclesiastes and Depression, or something to do with Christian Business stuff… which one is better? – Alicia S.)
The Naked Bible 