Meaning less and less

As we were bombarded with images of cemeteries and gravestones over the long All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day weekend, one could not help — just as the poet Thomas Gray did, as he wandered about a churchyard while writing his famous Elegy — but ponder on the fleeting nature of life and the seeming senselessness of forgetting to live while struggling to make a living.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 says it succinctly: “Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (NIV)

An exegesis of the passage will reveal that what the Hebrew writers meant was not at all nihilistic, but that life is fleeting and should be relished, but by the most ethical means possible.

Differently stated, one should enjoy in moderation, but without harming others and breaking the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. Crooks in government, I’m looking at you!

There is nothing in any moral code that proscribes becoming wealthy, as long as the means are legitimate. The Bible itself says that it is LOVE of money, not money itself, that is the root of all evil. Thus, Proverbs 13:11 warns that “(d)ishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.”

Realizing the brevity of life on earth, there is nothing wrong with stopping to smell the roses, so to speak. As Dean Martin sang in “A Hundred Years From Today” (Ned Washington–Joe Young), “If you had millions, what would they all mean/A hundred years from today/So laugh and sing, make love a thing/Be happy while you may.”

Of course, unless you are a nepo baby whose ascendants stole hundreds of billions, turned state’s evidence, and left the residue to you in a trust fund, we all have to work for a living.

But in the frenzy of practicing one’s profession, one should not lose sight of the joys of life: time with family and friends; time to write that book, poem, song, or create that painting you’ve always wanted to paint; time to visit those faraway places with strange-sounding names you’ve always wanted to see; time to do at least one passion project in your life; or time to just spend alone.

For what is life made of but experiences? The most important thing you can realize is that our time is finite. As the Bard wrote most elegantly in Macbeth: “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/And then is heard no more.”

Those who wasted their lives in the mad pursuit of power and wealth have nothing to be proud of. Aside from leaving a name uttered with hate and contempt, their earthly achievements will soon disappear. As King Ozymandias lamented in that renowned work by poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains.”

In the end, as we run out of time on earth, and our bodies become progressively frail, pelf and power begin to mean less and less, and happiness and contentment become most paramount. To quote a fellow lawyer — Arnold Zack — “No one on his deathbed ever said, ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.’”

So, friends, enjoy life while you can, for as David Rockefeller once said, “There ain’t no luggage rack on a hearse.”

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return,” said the Biblical Job. Or if you want something more modern, ponder on the celebrated words of the Two Wise Men, John Kander and Fred Ebb: “Life is a cabaret, old chum. Come to the Cabaret.”