“Joy is a crowning gift of God in this meaningless world. The seraphim experience joy in the presence of God, but honestly, that is to be expected. It is not the angels He helps. We are given the privilege of experiencing joy here, in the midst of ongoing disobedient and imbecilic chaos. Joy, yes, but …
Same Graveyard
“Solomon knows that the position of the wise man is better, but he cannot say why. All the data under the sun that he can find shows that the wise and the foolish wind up in the same graveyard. So Solomon expresses his preference for wisdom, a preference suspended, in good Kantian fashion, in mid-air. …
Rattle Our Bones Loose
“Solomon’s taste was refined — he obtained talented musicians. Our tastes are not as refined — we obtain car stereo systems which can rattle our bones loose with a thumping bass. But in either case, meaning and purpose are not an acoustical matter. Someone with refined sensibilities may sniff at the mindlessness of pop music, …
All a Bunch of Nothing
“Think for a moment of what Solomon was in a position to do. We should mediate briefly on what he probably did. He had a thousand women, all of them built from the ground up, and all good looking. He had more money than a man can spend. He had vast estates. He had time …
Lofty Vanity
“But this pursuit of meaning in pleasure does not necessitate a frat-boy ethic. A man might be a hedonist, looking for ultimate meaning and value in aesthetic pleasures that are not gross or ostentatious. Perhaps meaning can be found by walking in a groomed Japanese garden contemplating chess moves or geometry problems. While it is …
As the Bottle Afterwards
“Drunkenness is of course as empty as the bottle afterwards . . . Whether this better-living-through-chemistry approach comes through liquid, smoke, needle, or straw, the result is always a vacuum. A fool will always find various ways to dig his way down, but when he gets there he is always at the bottom of a …
For Tomorrow We Die
“The line of reasoning commended itself to the apostle Paul. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then the most sensible thing to do is eat and drink and have as good a time as a meaningless bit of protoplasm can have” (Joy at the End of the Tether, p. 25).
A Great Comedic Cattle Prod
“Maybe the world would be a cheerier place if we could add a laugh track to it. Without the intelligence and wisdom of Solomon, we are trying the same thing in our day. Perhaps we may find a savior in comedy. But the ubiquitous laugh track behind all our sitcoms provides a fitting commentary for …
Our Deep Blue Funk
“The latest ‘whatever’ is whooped as the savior which will lead us out of our temporary postmodern malaise, our deep blue funk. Perhaps the Internet, or computers, or skyscrapers, or environmental activism, or snowboarding, or something will save us. But this does not help. Even the snowboarder, when he gets to the bottom, has to …
The Tubas of Vanity
“Under the sun, vanity is God’s scepter (Ecc. 5:18; 8:15; 9:9). For those who fear Him, He gives the gift of being able to actually enjoy this great big marching band of futility — the tubas of vanity bringing up the rear” (Joy at the End of the Tether, p. 13).