[quote=scaredyclassic]18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
Ecclesiastes 3:18-19, 21-22 NIV
My father was a Baptist minister in Texas in the 1980s.
When I learned of Ecclesiastes, the word used instead of meaningless was vanity (all is vanity).
A friend of his who grew up in the former USSR, came to me shortly after my mother died when I was 17. He said, “what you father teaches is true and useful”.
Needless to say, my life took some odd turns from 1986 to today and I lived in the former GDR (Berlin) for 5 years and 5 former USSR republics for 15 years.
It was a range of projects:
German Ministry of Privatization (energy industry)/liquidation department
World Bank in Moldova
Soros Foundation in Moldova (even met George personally once)/USAID
Built a factory in Ukraine with a German company, did the same in Kyrgyzstan when we traded with Mongolia/Afghanistan (pre 9/11).
Helped launch the first Nasdaq listed company from Russia
Lived in SoCal a few years
Round 2 of former USSR: non-proliferation of bioweapons/bio-threat programs in Russia/Azerbaijan
Topped off with a stint in oil field services
Now back in San Diego, mostly have been working in Oncology as an administrator, now in Orthopedics.
The point of all this: our lives can have an impact, things like the breakup of the USSR and German unification are not daily occurrences, but neither is a cure for cancer/mRNA vaccines.
If our lives are focused too much on our own desires and pleasures, then the phrase of vanity/meaninglessness is relevant.
But good life purpose can be found even if one is well off by finding a path to serve others and make a positive contribution.
