Catching wind
“There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”
Eccl 2: 24-26
Could you catch wind if you tried hard enough? The rhetorical answer is a massive resounding “NO,” though I think it’s something fun to jam on for a minute. In my imagination I see a dude running around a hillside with Tupperware in his hands, clapping the top and bottom together as quick as the slightest hint of a breeze tickles the the loose strands of hair brushing his eyebrows. Each time, he clasps the two pieces together as tight as possible, peels the top back a centimeter and rips them apart with heated frustration at another failure.
He’s a fool. He’s also not real, but it would make for a good Disney short before the next Pixar film - though I don’t get paid for my opinions. But somehow I think Disney would make sure he actually does catch the wind, and keeps it as his pet or something, completely missing the entire point. I digress.
What makes wind “wind?” Is it not a force outside of ourselves completely unrestrained by any organic being’s control? I mean, yes, we can make fans and swing them around to create “wind,” however we all know it’s not the same. So again, what makes wind “wind?”
The reason wind is uncatchable is because it’s not a tangible object, it’s an intangible force creating a reaction of things outside of ourselves, suppressing air currents and pushing things around at whim. It’s value as our experience is reliant on that intangible force at will.
Our work then, our toil, how does it find its value? 1+1 equals…
Our creating of the thing we’re so passionate about is, again, a striving after wind with our Tupperware if we don’t recognize that it doesn’t actually add to us. We get no real true gain from inventory or accolades. When we die, all that we have passes down to the next person (2:18-19) who may or may not be worthy of what we have. In other words, we don’t take jack with us, so what is the actual point of doing anything on earth?
According to these verses, we are to enjoy our toil, we’re to enjoy the work we do here. Raise your hand if you enjoy the work you’re doing. For those in the back who didn’t move an inch, why are you doing what you’re doing? That’s not a rhetorical question.
Why are you “doing” if you’re not “enjoying?” Think about it, honestly. Without digging too much into the weeds and subjective definitions of joy, let me aim back at the original text: “God gave joy to the one who pleases him (aka follows/trusts/wonders about Him) and to the other he gave business” (my paraphrase). First, I firmly believe each of us has a true individual purpose. I find no accident in the skills or passions we have, and I will fight to defend the thought that each one of us is asked to unreservedly develop and invest in those talents and passions that keep us so enthralled with wonder. Second, our investment in those things is our personal claim that we trust/believe/follow/desire to please God, for when we dive into curiosity of our souls, we leave the answer up to an outside force unreserved to our control. Thus, claiming our bold belief in the unbelievable, we are returned a joy unimaginable by the one who we’re striving to see more of.
When we do a whole bunch of things we think will return us structure and safety, if we can distill that approach down to it’s purest claim, we’re essentially betting on our own agency to decide what’s best for our security, thus brushing away the invitation of God to experience joy. In this, we have business, the unending cycle of gathering and collecting for no real reason outside of having those things. We’re trying to catch wind.
With sober attention, test those things that give you goosebumps, those “what ifs” you find yourself tumbling around your sleepless mind at night. Test them by the measure of curiosity God gives you to seek, and I’m betting it’s there you will begin to find the ether of joy you’ve been so pining for. Truly. Claiming Christianity, we are in essence declaring our incapability to produce any force necessary to move a mountain while simultaneously doubling down on our insane exclamation someone exists who can move it by simply breathing out.
Stop trying to catch wind, instead decide to experience the power of it. Thrust yourself towards the unknown. Today, pick up whatever it is that you know gets you going, and don’t put it down as quickly as you did before saying “one day.” The hard edged truth is the thing you’re putting it down for might be the thing you’re doing for someone else to enjoy, constantly trading an experience of the wondrous for an errand of the fool.