Meaningful.Meaningful.Meaningful
As I sit here in this coffee shop the sun is shinning bright through the windows and its warm kiss lights up the room. It allows me to see the faces of those, whom if only for a moment, are sharing an afternoon with one another as strangers. This warm kiss breathes life into colors that words could never describe, casts shadows across the tiled floor, and provides for all of us warmth, joy and bit of comfort. This light allows me to experience the world that exists in such a way that darkness could never.
As I sit here in this coffee shop I don’t look at the light. I look at what the light illuminates. Because you see, light is humble. It does not wish to be seen. It does not wish to be known. It does not wish to brag or take the glory. It just wishes that others could enjoy afternoons in coffee shops. Light is humble.
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A close friend of mine is an amazing women’s soccer coach at a local high school. This year her team had a rough pre season but week after week they continued to win game after game until finally they reached the finals undefeated as one of the top picks to win the entire thing. In a single elimination tournament every single game was electric and victory after victory got them to the final game. Shots were taken, goals were made, and the grand stands lost its voice by half time.
The final whistle blows – tie
Over Time
Double Over Time
Penalty Kicks
They lost…
The twenty of us that showed up day after day, game after game, victory after victory in support of our friend now walk to our cars in silence. Why is this? At the end of the day it’s a rubber ball filled with air going between two metal poles into a net. Yet I chewed off every last fingernail I had and lost my voice yelling at the top of my lungs. You know what this looks like. You have been there before. But why?
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Meaningless Meaningless Meaningless
Hebel Hebel Hebel
Vapor Vapor Vapor
The Author of Ecclesiastes starts his work with these three words. The Hebrew word ‘Hebel’ in most translations becomes the word ‘Meaningless’ but it is done the most justice if we understand it as ‘Vapor’ or ‘Breath.’ Here for a moment and gone the next. This life is like a vapor. It is passing quickly and will be gone as soon as it came. Everything everything everything that exists is meaningless says the author. And this bold statement raises a whole series of questions doesn’t it? Because if your at all like me then you have experienced moments in life that are loaded with meaning. So if everything that exists is meaningless then meaning must come from that which does not exist? What does it mean to exist? And if this author isn’t out of his mind and is actually correct then what does that change?
To exist can simply be defined as “being brought to the foreground” or “having material or substance.”
So this coffee shop: Meaningless
This computer I write on: Meaningless
The drink I just enjoyed: Meaningless
The strangers sharing an afternoon: Meaningless
The light that has kissed this room: Meaningful?
Light doesn’t exist, light is humble. It only wishes to illuminate so that others may enjoy.
So that soccer game: Meaningless
The soccer ball: Meaningless
The soccer players: Meaningless
The grandstands filled with people: Meaningless
The love that brought the friends and family to the game: Meaningful
You see love is a lot like light in that it is humble. Love does not wish to be seen. It does not wish to be known. It does not wish to brag or take the glory. Love fills the grand stands and illuminates significance to that rubber ball flying between those metal poles. Love is humble.
And this is what I think the author of Ecclesiastes is getting at. Everything under the sun is meaningless without love. But with love moments in time begin to have meaning. They begin to have significance. They begin to pop off the pages of life and become stories that we will one day enjoy and laugh at. Its no wonder that Paul in 1 Corinthians states that God is Love. It’s His presence that makes this vapor of life worth so much.
It’s why we cry at funerals. It’s why we laugh with friends. It’s why we wake up morning after morning with a fresh page of opportunity to create.
It’s why art has the ability to steal our breath. It’s why music has the ability to move our soul. It’s why people leave work early to catch glimpses of the sun setting over the ocean.
It’s why people get married. It’s why people have kids. It’s why people wake up one morning on the other side of 45 wondering what in the world they have gotten themselves into.
It’s why the sun shines. It’s why the moon glows. It’s why people for centuries have wanted the stars to tell them stories.
It’s why food has flavor. It’s why flowers have aroma. It’s why afternoons in coffee shops have become so comforting and exciting and enjoyable.
God is Love and Love is Meaningful.Meaningful.Meaningful
-Billy
