- Generations come and go all the time, but do things really change? Eh. Not exactly.
- The cycles of nature never change. Wind comes and goes, back and forth. The sun rises and sets in the same place.
- And as if that isn't depressing enough, Shlomo also goes on to stretch all this to mean that man is part of this never ending, yet never progressing cycle.
Shlomo doesn't stop there. He's on a role. He also says that there is no memory of what came first and there is no lasting memory of what's going on now, so basically, everything seems new but it isn't. There is nothing new under the sun. Which brings us back to our favorite statement, everything is hevel.
Finally we get to this new phrase, "Tachat HaShemesh." Shlomo says that nothing is new under the sun and that man puts forth toil under the sun. So, this seems like a half glass full or a half glass empty type of situation. We could see this as, "Oh man, there is nothing new under the sun. There is nothing new ever. Everything is worthless." Or...we could see this as, "Although things might be so great under the sun, in the next world (in heaven), there is a purpose for man and things won't be so bad." Okay, so this isn't a totally half glass full type of theory, more like a "little more full than empty" type of thing. Yeah, so there is some purpose for man, just not in this world. Yall might think differently, but I'd like for there to be some purpose in this world. If not then you might as well do some mitzvot, and die while giving all your organs to those in need like the guy in 7 Pounds. Then at least you've done some good in your lifetime, people will have good things to say about you at your funeral, and you'll get into Olam HaBah where you will have a purposeful life that is not Hevel.
I know that by the end of this year I'll have a better understanding of what this all means but for now it just seems like Shlomo is going through a depression stage. Maybe Cymbalta can help. He obviously just had a hard realization about life and is like a distressed poet who tries to pour out all of his feelings into his work. Call me crazy but I'd like to think life isn't worthless. Hopefully there's some positivity on the future lesson plans.
It's interesting that many of us naturally come to the conclusion that life has a meaning and if somebody says that life doesn't have a meaning he/she is depressed.
ReplyDeleteDoes somebody have to be depressed to think that life has no meaning, or is merely a different way of looking at things? Can we automatically go into this argument with the assumption that there is meaning to life (because we do)? If we do, we must have some concrete reasons to back it up; Shlomo surely backs up his statement on why everything is hevel.
What if Shlomo is just being a realist here?
I agree with your view on wanting their to be a purpose in life. I think that's the point in life, though. We go through life searching for our purpose. Maybe Shlomo never felt like he found his purpose. Maybe he's upset because he may have been trying to find his purpose and by the end he realized he never found his, and though maybe he had no purpose, drawing him to the conclusion that no one has a purpose.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your view on wanting their to be a purpose in life. I think that's the point in life, though. We go through life searching for our purpose. Maybe Shlomo never felt like he found his purpose. Maybe he's upset because he may have been trying to find his purpose and by the end he realized he never found his, and though maybe he had no purpose, drawing him to the conclusion that no one has a purpose.
ReplyDelete