Sentilong Ozukum
Bernard Levin, perhaps the greatest columnist of this generation, once wrote an article called 'Life's Great Riddle, and No Time to Find Its Meaning'. In it he spoke of the fact that in spite of his great success as a columnist for over twenty years he feared that he might have 'wasted reality in the chase of a dream'. He wrote:
"To put it bluntly, have I time to discover why I was born before I die...? I have not managed to answer the question yet, and however many years I have before me they are certainly not as many as there are behind. There is an obvious danger in leaving it too late ... why do I have to know why I was born? Because, of course, I am unable to believe that it was an accident; and if it wasn't one, it must have a meaning.”
Prince Charles once spoke of his belief that, for all the advances of science, “there remains deep in the soul, a persistent and unconscious anxiety that something is missing, some ingredient that makes life living.”
Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the rock group Queen, who died at the end of 1991 wrote in one of his last songs on The Miracle album, 'Does anybody know what we are living for?' In spite of the fact that he had amassed a huge fortune and had attracted thousands of fans, he admitted in an interview shortly before his death that he was desperately lonely. He said, 'You can have everything in the world and still be the loneliest man, and that is the bitterest type of loneliness. Success has brought me world idolization and millions of pounds, but it's prevented me from having the one thing we all need - a loving, ongoing relationship.'
Christian apologist and president of RZIM, Dr. Ravi Zacharias in one of his tapes talks about the day when he received a phone call from Elvis Presley’s brother after his death and the moments they shared as they had lunch together. Stanley told Zacharias about the drugs that Elvis was involved and the events leading to his death. He talked about the morning where he found Elvis dead. “The world collapsed right on my face. The ambulance was taking Elvis away. The family was completely destroyed.” At one point of their discussion Zacharias asked, “What was it that drove Elvis?” Stanley replied, “Ravi, all I know is that with all the women he had screaming for him and all the fame that he had before him, Elvis was an extremely lonely man. He often cried with loneliness. The song I believe he meant more deeply than any other song was How Great Thou Art. I saw him stand in Las Vegas before a crowd of gamblers and drinking people and he said ‘I wanna sing a song to you which deeply moves me’ and he sang How Great Thou Art and the audience was in spell bound silence. Many times when I bade him goodnight the last one to leave him every night he’d be at the piano singing hymns. He really hungered for something greater than what the world was giving him. “Some people spend much of their lives seeking something that will give meaning and purpose to life. Count Leo Tolstoy was one. In 1879 he a book called A Confession, in which he tells the story of his search for meaning and purpose in life. He had rejected Christianity as a child. When he left university he sought to get as much pleasure out of life as he could. He entered the social world of Moscow and Petersburg, drinking heavily, living promiscuously, gambling and leading a wild life. But it did not satisfy him.
Then he became ambitious for money. He had inherited an estate and made a large amount of money out of his books. Yet that did not satisfy him either. He sought success, fame and importance. These he also achieved. He wrote what the Encyclopedia Britannica describes as 'one of the two or three greatest novels in world literature'. But he was left asking the question 'Well fine ... so what?’ to which he had no answer.
Then he became ambitious for his family - to give them the best possible life. He married in 1862 and had a kind, loving wife and thirteen children (which, he said, distracted him from any search for the overall meaning of life!). He had achieved all his ambitions and was surrounded by what appeared to be complete happiness. And yet one question brought him to the verge of suicide: 'Is there any meaning in my life which will not be annihilated by the inevitability of death which awaits me?'
He searched for the answer in every field of science and philosophy. The only answer he could find to the question 'Why do I live?' was that 'in the infinity of space and the infinity of time infinitely small particles mutate with infinite complexity'. As he looked round at his contemporaries he saw that people were not facing up to the first order questions of life ('Where did I come from?', 'Where am I heading?', 'Who am I?', 'What is life about?'). Eventually he found that the peasant people of Russia had been able to answer these questions through their Christian faith and he came to realize that only in Jesus Christ do we find the answer.
Many centuries before Leo Tolstoy, there lived another writer. In fact he was a King and like Tolstoy he too undertook a journey to find the meaning the purpose of human life. He had enough money, time and energy to take a journey to find out what truly satisfies human life. Thankfully he kept an accurate journal of his journey. He wrote down his experiments and observations. His journal is available for all to read and learn. The opening lines of his journal reads- “Meaningless, meaningless. Everything is meaningless.” The King’s name was Solomon and the journal he kept is the book of Ecclesiastes. The journey left Solomon deflated depressed and disillusioned. Nothing he saw, discovered, attempted, produced, initiated or concluded as a result of his lengthy search resulted in lasting significance or personal satisfaction. Solomon’s two favorite phrases were- Everything is meaning less and under the sun.
So where did Solomon begin his ultimate search?
First Solomon tried scientific exploration and education stimulation. “I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven” he later wrote in his journal. Did this satisfy his urge? Not really for he said, “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless.” Both education and exploration left him empty.
Then he started a new course to fill his emptiness. He decided to laugh his way through life. “Laugher” he thought would bring him the ultimate meaning, the ultimate satisfaction. But it didn’t. His admission is as honest as it is blunt: “Laughter is foolish.” If it was not education, if it was not amusement, if it was not laughter, then what is it? Desperate and disillusioned, he muttered, “Perhaps the satisfaction I’m looking for is in a bottle” He later picked up the quill and wrote, “I tired cheering myself with wine.” But again it failed to satisfy. Next he rolled up his sleeves and started to work. He started with architecture and when he realized it didn’t satisfy he decided to take in horticulture and agriculture. He built great houses. He planted vineyards, gardens and parks. He constructed ponds and canals. Yet nothing satisfied him. He stopped at nothing yet he remained ever lonely, restless and unfulfilled.
He then decided that what he needed could be provided by other people. “I bought male and female slaves.” he wrote. Still he was not satisfied. Next he moved onto collecting precious gems and articles of gold and silver. When he found out that this did not satisfy, he muttered, “Perhaps music will help.” So he bought male and female singers and filled the chambers of his house with music. He wrote over a thousand sings. Yet he failed to find inner peace.
Next in his chart was Pleasure. “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired. I refused my heart no pleasure.” The pleasure came but it didn’t last. When the fun games were over there remained the pits. When all sensual and practical projects failed to produce lasting happiness, he decided to change direction. “So I turned” He must have written this phrase in a full page. He decided to put his mind to work. The new direction led him into three comparisons. He compared wisdom with foolishness, the immediate with the ultimate and daily work with evening relief. These things didn’t satisfy any more than his previous pursuits.
Because he left God out of the picture and looked for meaning under the sun, nothing satisfied. It never will. Satisfaction in life will never occur until there is a meaningful connection with living God above the sun. If we expect to find happiness in life we must get above the sun. And that’s exactly what Solomon does as he turns the final pages of his journal. Unless we connect with the living God through faith in Jesus Christ life is reduced to an empty and meaningless experience. I love the anti- climatic ending to Solomon’s incredible journal. At the end he concludes that there are two things that we need to pay attention to- two musts. First we must take God seriously. Second we must do what He says. You think Solomon slammed his journal shut and said – ‘Do it.’ But that’s not all. He knew his readers would ask why. Why should we consider God seriously? Why should we obey His truth? The answer- Because in the final analysis, we’ll do business with God. All alone, standing face-to face with God we’ll give an account of the life we have lived.
Life without God is the pits. There is a longing within each one of our heart. There is always the haunting sense of emptiness in our heart that no mankind can fill. That’s the way God designed it. He placed within us that God-shaped vacuum that only He can fill. Until He is there, nothing satisfies.
The password is Christ. He alone is the way, the truth, the life. Without the way, there is no going. Without the truth, there is no knowing. Without the life, there is no life. This conclusion to Solomon’s journal can your introduction joy, forgiveness, hope and joy.
