Читать книгу The Great Reduction - Jay Trott - Страница 7

Staring death in the face, Solomon now realizes that it does not matter how much you build or how much you achieve or accumulate. You have to leave all that behind at the door to the grave.

He appears not to have been thinking about this until now. He wrote a glorious book that was all about obtaining prosperity and contentment through wisdom (Proverbs). What changed? He did. His perspective changed as he grew old and his youthful energy ebbed away.

There is one thing no one can gain by his toil, which is life. We can accumulate stuff and honors, but we cannot be happy with them because they cannot save us from the grave. And this suggests that life—not stuff or honors—is the thing we really want the most.

So why do we chase after the stuff and honors? Because unconsciously we think they will give us life. Our desire for life is the hidden force in all ambition and striving, hidden even from ourselves. But in old age, this desire is unveiled, and then we see the futility of our toil.

This is the analysis of our continuing unhappiness put forth by Ecclesiastes. You can decide for yourself whether it fits the facts. If so, then you may find some interesting information about contentment in this bracing old book.