Pleasure Is But a Breath

But we are in a sermon series in the book of Ecclesiastes.

So please open up in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes,

which is right after Psalms and Proverbs in the Old Testament.

We just started this sermon series last Sunday.

If you did miss that Sunday,

you might need a little bit of orientation for the book.

So I do encourage you to go back and listen to that recording on our website,

TrinityCambridge.com.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father,

thank you for loving us.

And for the way your love manifests itself to us,

you know, is speaking the truth.

Your Word is truth.

And even though your Word for us this morning contains some very hard truths,

may that sober us.

May that turn our gaze toward Jesus.

May that give us humility and wisdom

to be able to live in

this broken and sinful world

still with an abiding hope

and transcendent joy

that is found in Jesus Christ alone.

Grant that privilege and blessing to every single person here.

in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

If you are willing and able,

please stand for the reading of God's Word

from Ecclesiastes 1, verse 12,

Ecclesiastes 1:12

to chapter 2, verse 11.

Amen.

I, the preacher,

have been king over Israel in Jerusalem,

and I applied my heart to seek

and to search out by wisdom

all that is done under heaven.

It is an unhappy business

that God has given to the children of man

to be busy with.

I have seen everything that is done under the sun,

and behold,

all is vanity

and a striving after wind.

What is crooked cannot be made straight,

and what is lacking cannot be counted.

I said in my heart,

I have acquired great wisdom,

surpassing all who are over Jerusalem before me.

And my heart has had great experience

of wisdom and knowledge.

And I applied my heart to know wisdom

and to know madness and folly.

I perceived that this also

is but a striving after wind.

For in much wisdom is much vexation,

and he who increases knowledge

increases sorrow.

I said in my heart,

Come now, I will test you with pleasure.

Enjoy yourself.

But behold,

this also was vanity.

I said of laughter,

It is mad,

and of pleasure,

What use is it?

I searched with my heart

how to cheer my body with wine,

my heart still guiding me with wisdom,

and how to lay hold on folly,

till I might see

what was good for the children of man

to do under heaven

during the few days of their life.

I made great works.

I built houses

and planted vineyards for myself.

I made myself gardens and parks

and planted in them

all kinds of fruit trees.

I made myself pools

from which to water

the forest of growing trees.

I bought male and female slaves

and had slaves who were born in my house.

I had also great possessions

of herds and flocks,

more than any who had been before me

in Jerusalem.

I also gathered for myself

silver and gold

and the treasure of kings and provinces.

I got singers,

both men and women,

and many concubines,

the delight of the sons of men.

So I became great

and surpassed all who were before me

in Jerusalem.

Also my wisdom remained with me.

And whatever my eyes desired,

I did not keep from them.

I kept my heart from no pleasure,

for my heart found pleasure

in all my toil,

and this was my reward

for all my toil.

Then I considered

all that my hands had done

and the toil I had expended

in doing it,

and behold,

all was vanity

and a striving after wind,

and there was nothing

to be gained under the sun.

This is God's holy

and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

17th century French mathematician

and philosopher Blaise Pascal

said this in his book,

Ponce,

All men seek happiness.

This is without exception.

Whatever different means they use,

they all tend to this end.

The cause of some going to war

and of others avoiding it

is the same desire in both,

to be happy.

This is the motive of every action,

of every man,

even of those who hang themselves.

Isn't this true?

Even those who hang themselves,

who end their own lives,

do so to escape

their profound unhappiness

because they think

they'll be happier

if they ended their own life.

But as our passage

this morning tells us,

happiness in this fallen world

is elusive.

As we learned last week,

the eye is not satisfied

with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing.

In short,

we human beings

are never quite satisfied

with anything we experience

in this life.

Our pursuit of happiness

in this life under the sun

is ultimately hevel,

the Hebrew word

which means breath.

It is ultimately futile

like chasing after wind.

All the pleasures

that this world has to offer

are like a puff of breath,

a passing wind,

a wisp of smoke,

a vanishing mist.

And for that reason,

this passage tells us,

knowing that the pleasures

under the sun

are but a breath,

we should seek pleasures

forevermore in Jesus Christ.

And that's the main point

of my sermon this morning.

And we're going to talk about it

in two parts.

First, we'll talk about

the futility of wisdom.

And secondly,

we'll talk about

the fleetingness of pleasure.

In the introduction

and the conclusion

of the book of Ecclesiastes,

the author of the book

repeats his thesis,

which is vanity of vanities,

all is vanity.

And...

Sorry about that, guys.

And in the body of the book,

which is between

the introduction

and the conclusion

from 1.12 to 12.7,

the author uses

the voice of the preacher,

the character preacher,

to go through

a catalog of human beings,

the things that human beings

that frequently seek meaning in

and seek fulfillment in.

And then he tells us

one by one

that none of those things

can ultimately fulfill us

because all of those things

are but a breath.

And today,

we're looking at

how pleasure

is but a breath.

But before he explores that,

the preacher first

establishes his credentials

and he tells us

the futility of wisdom

in verses 12 to 18

of chapter 1.

He says in verse 12,

I, the preacher,

have been king

over Israel in Jerusalem.

But if you have read

1 Kings,

you know that

the nation of Israel

is split in two

right after Solomon's reign,

divided into

the northern kingdom of Israel

and the southern kingdom

of Judah.

And so,

after that point,

no king of Israel

reigns in Jerusalem.

It's only the kings of Judah

that reign in Jerusalem.

So,

there's only two kings

that actually reigned

in Jerusalem

over Israel

and that's King David

and King Solomon

which also makes it

very likely that

the preacher here,

the character here

is Solomon

who originally,

initially wrote

these wisdom,

words of wisdom

in Proverbs

that have been compiled

by the author

of Ecclesiastes

in this way.

And this is confirmed

by 1 Kings 4,

29, 30.

It says that

God gave Solomon

wisdom and understanding

beyond measure

and breath of mind

like the sand

on the seashore

so that Solomon's wisdom

surpassed the wisdom

of all the people

of the east

and all the wisdom

of Egypt.

That's exactly

what the preacher

in Ecclesiastes says.

He says in verse 16,

I said in my heart,

I have acquired

great wisdom

surpassing

all who were

over Jerusalem

before me.

Not only King David

but also all the other

pagan kings

that reigned

in Jerusalem

before him.

But he says

in verses 13 to 14

that even when

he applied

this unsurpassed

wisdom

to search out

the meaning

of our earthly

existence,

of all our

human endeavors,

he could not

find it.

It was but a breath.

He says,

and I applied

my heart

to seek

and to search

out by wisdom

all that is done

under heaven.

It is an unhappy

business that God

has given to the

children of man

to be busy with.

I've seen everything

that is done

under the sun

and behold,

all is vanity

and a striving

after wind.

And then the preacher

gives the reason

why all of it

is a striving

after wind

which is futile.

In verse 15,

what is crooked

cannot be made

straight

and what is lacking

cannot be counted.

Despite all the

knowledge and wisdom

we have gained

through the advancement

of medicine

and technology,

people still get sick.

Hospitals are still full.

And the average

lifespan of human beings

is still exactly

what Psalm 90.10

said 3,000 years ago.

The years of our life

are 70

or even by reason

of strength, 80.

Despite all the experience

and wisdom

we have gained

in diplomacy

and peacemaking,

the world is still

ravaged by war.

Despite all the knowledge

and wisdom

we have gained

about the human mind

and about mental health,

people are still depressed

and as anxious

as ever.

What is crooked

cannot be made straight.

This world,

this whole world

is bent out of shape

and despite our best efforts

we cannot straighten it out.

Likewise,

what is lacking

cannot be counted.

There's always something

missing in the world.

You count

and then there's something missing

and despite our best efforts

we cannot supply

that missing thing.

Despite all the

technological advancements,

despite all our inventions,

the world is still

not the way

it's supposed to be.

What is lacking

cannot be counted.

Then verses 16 to 18,

parallel verses 12 to 15,

again,

the preacher tells us

that he applied

his wisdom,

his heart to know

the wisdom

and to know madness

and folly

only to realize

that this also

is a striving after wind.

It makes sense

that madness and folly

of course

are striving after wind

but it's remarkable

that he says

wisdom is also

striving after wind.

He again gives a reason,

a second reason

why wisdom is futile

in verse 18.

For in much wisdom

is much vexation

and he who increases

knowledge

increases sorrow.

The amount of wisdom

we have

is proportionate

to the vexation

we experience

in our lives.

The amount of knowledge

we have

is proportionate

to the amount

of sorrow

we experience.

How is that the case?

The wiser we get,

the more clearly

we see how tragic

life is

and how broken

this world is.

18th century

English poet

Thomas Gray's poem

Ode on a Distant Prospect

of Eton College

has two distinct halves.

The first half

begins this way

about the untroubled

life of school children.

Ah, happy hills!

Ah, pleasing shade!

Ah, feels beloved in vain!

Where once

my careless childhood

strayed,

a stranger

yet to pain.

It's a child

that is yet

a stranger to pain.

And then the second half

of the poem

takes a dark turn

and it depicts

the pains

of growing up

and being an adult.

It says,

to each his sufferings

all are men

condemned alike

to groan.

The tender

for another's pain,

the unfeeling

for his own.

Yet, ah,

why should they

know their fate

since sorrow

never comes too late

and happiness

too swiftly flies.

Thought

would destroy

their paradise

no more.

Where ignorance

is bliss,

tis folly

to be wise.

This is where

we get that

famous phrase,

ignorance

is bliss.

Far less

eloquently

but far more

humorously,

comedian

Stephen Colbert

writes in his book,

I am America

and so can you.

Why were you

happier

when you were a kid?

Because you

didn't know anything.

The more you know,

the sadder you get.

Don't believe me?

By the time

you finish

reading this chapter,

over a hundred

dogs and

cats in animal

shelters around

the nation

will have been

euthanized.

Bet you wish

you could erase

that knowledge

but it's too late.

You learned

a new idea

and it made you sad.

College is just

more of the same.

Nowadays,

we have more

information

and knowledge

at our fingertips

than we ever

have had before.

But has that

made us happier?

every time

you have

some kind

of ache

or pain

in any part

of your body

now,

now everybody

goes straight

to Google.

And then it

tells you

a dozen things

that it could

possibly be

and some of them

are quite severe

and scary.

Our news feeds

are full of reports

about woe

and suffering

throughout the world.

Don't panic,

but this past week

the World Health

Organization

declared that

the MPOC's

outbreak in Africa

is a global

emergency.

And then earlier

this year

they were sounding

alarmed that

the next pandemic

could be 20 times

worse than

the COVID pandemic.

Well, great.

More information.

Does that knowledge

make us happier?

Some people rejoice

when government

hands out free money,

but people who

understand economics

worry that now

it's going to

cause inflation.

nutrition.

People,

some people enjoy

hot dogs and bacon,

but then some people

who care about nutrition

say, oh no,

that's going to

give you cancer.

Some people live

a carefree life,

and then there are

these depressing

philosophers

who are always

asking deep questions

for which they only

have depressing answers.

The more we know,

the more we wish

we didn't know.

And the more we know,

the more we know

what we don't know.

In this way,

much wisdom

is much vexation,

and he increases

knowledge,

increases sorrow.

That's why

an unnamed character

in Ernest Hemingway's

book,

The Garden of Eden,

says,

happiness in

intelligent people

is the rarest

thing I know.

In another one

of his novels,

Hemingway's novels,

A Farewell to Arms,

two characters,

Lieutenant Frederick Henry

and Nurse Catherine Barkley

fall in love

during World War I,

and then they flee

to Switzerland

in order to live

a carefree life together,

a quaint life

in the mountains,

away from the horrors

of war.

But there,

away from all

the horrors of war,

Catherine gives birth

to a stillborn child

and dies from hemorrhaging

after giving birth.

And her last words

to Frederick

is this,

life is just

a dirty trick.

No wonder Hemingway

himself shot himself

to death

with a 12-gauge shotgun.

He understood

the futility of life

and wisdom.

This bold statement

of the futility of wisdom

should be shocking to us

because the Hebrew word

for wisdom here

is the exact same word

that is used

in the book of Proverbs

over and over again.

And the book of Proverbs

tells us again and again

to get wisdom

at all costs

because it's the most

precious thing.

It says get wisdom

and whatever you get,

get insight.

It says how much better

to get wisdom

than gold.

But Ecclesiastes

teaches us

that even acquiring wisdom

is futile

in this fallen world.

That's obviously

contradictory on the surface.

So how can these two truths

be reconciled?

There is this tension

in the Bible's

wisdom literature

as we can see

in Proverbs also.

Proverbs is not,

he's not unaware of this.

For example,

Proverbs 13.25

says the righteous

has enough

to satisfy his appetite

but the belly

of the wicked

suffers want.

That's pretty

straightforward, right?

The righteous people,

the diligent people,

people who live honestly,

they're going to eat,

have plenty to eat.

But the wicked

will go hungry.

However,

just two verses earlier,

Proverbs 13.23

says the fallow ground

of the poor

would yield much food

but it is swept away

through injustice.

This proverb suggests

that though

the hardworking,

righteous poor

could have,

theoretically should have,

plenty to eat,

injustice robs them

of the fruit

of their labor.

We see a similar tension

in other places

in Proverbs as well.

Proverbs 15.6

says in the house

of the righteous

there is much treasure

but trouble befalls

the income of the wicked.

Once again,

it's straightforward.

If you're righteous

and hardworking,

you're going to get richer.

However,

just a few verses later

it says in Proverbs 15.16-17

better is a little

with the fear of the Lord

than great treasure

and trouble with it.

Better is a dinner of herbs

where love is

than a fattened ox

and hatred with it.

This latter proverb

suggests that sometimes

crooks acquire

great revenues

with injustice

and that the righteous

who fear the Lord

are sometimes poor

and reduced

to a dinner of herbs.

But nevertheless,

it says,

it is better

to fear the Lord.

It is better

to have wisdom.

The interplay

between these

tension,

these two kinds

of proverbs

reveals something

profound for us.

It is generally true

that honest,

diligent work

produces prosperity.

That's the way

God designed

the world to work.

That's how God

has ordered

the world to work.

However,

this world

is marred by sin.

It's a fallen world.

It's a broken world.

And so that

even though

we are commended

to seek righteousness,

sometimes when we do,

we still end up

in poverty.

Things don't always

pan out for us.

Proverbs

is a book

that is weighted

toward the general

rules of wisdom

according to which

we should all

seek to live.

Ecclesiastes

is weighted

toward the exception

to these general rules

which the person

must also be aware of

lest they despair

when things

don't pan out

the way

they expect it to.

It's kind of like

learning the rules

of writing.

When you're first

learning to write,

you learn

that fragments

are bad.

You want to write

in complete sentences

and you learn

how to not write

in fragments.

And then as you

get more advanced

in your writing,

they teach you

that fragments

can actually help

to increase

the pace

of your writing

and intentionally

convey disjointedness.

And in fact,

a lot of the best writers

routinely break

the rule

and write in fragments.

And that's just

what happens

in life.

In a similar way,

the wisdom literature

in scripture

teaches us to know

both the general rules

and the exceptions

to those rules,

both of which

are integral parts

of holistic wisdom.

Overall,

Ecclesiastes still has

a positive view

of wisdom.

It will say later

in chapter 2,

verse 13,

that I saw that

there is more gain

in wisdom

than in folly,

as there is more gain

in light

than in darkness.

It says in Ecclesiastes 7,

11 to 12,

But wisdom is good

with an inheritance,

an advantage

to those who see the sun.

For the protection

of wisdom

is like the protection

of money,

and the advantage

of knowledge

is that wisdom

preserves the life

of him who has it.

But like Proverbs,

Ecclesiastes also recognizes

that time and chance

happen to the wise

and to the fool.

And the wise dies

and is forgotten

just like the fool.

Herein lies

the vexation

and sorrow

of wisdom.

Even if you live

with wisdom,

life does not necessarily

go according to plan

because we live

in a fallen

and broken world.

And this is all

the more vexing

if you try so hard

to live the right way.

I did all

the right things.

I said all

the right things.

And yet,

these tragedies

still hit me.

And that's why

wisdom,

biblical wisdom

is not ultimately

about controlling

our life,

controlling our future.

It's about submitting

to God

who alone

has control

over life.

That's why

Proverbs 21, 30

says,

no wisdom,

no understanding,

no counsel

can avail

against the Lord.

The fear of the Lord

is the beginning

of wisdom.

This is why

the preachers

who preach

the gospel

of health,

wealth,

and prosperity

are so wrong.

Generally speaking,

wise living

and obedience

to God

does lead

to greater

health and prosperity.

Yes, that's true.

But as Ecclesiastes

teaches us,

it is also often

not the case.

The world is unjust

and life is unfair.

That's why

our only hope

must be placed

in Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1,

18-25

says this,

we read this

in the call

to worship,

God destroys

the wisdom

of the wise

in Jesus.

He makes foolish

the wisdom

of the world

in Jesus.

For since

in the wisdom

of God

the world

did not know

God through wisdom,

it pleased God

through the folly

of what we preach

to save those

who believe.

For Jews demand

signs and Greeks

seek wisdom,

but we preach

Christ crucified,

a stumbling block

to Jews

and folly

to Gentiles.

But to those

who are called,

both Jews

and Greeks,

Christ,

the power

of God

and the wisdom

of God,

for the foolishness

of God

is wiser

than men

and the weakness

of God

is stronger

than men.

It's because

of God

that we are

in Christ Jesus

who became

to us

wisdom

from God.

God

from God

righteousness

and sanctification

and redemption.

In His infinite wisdom

God has chosen

to save us

not through the wisdom

of man

but through the folly

of Christ crucified.

It's not those

who make all the wise

choices in life

and do all the right

things in life

who are saved.

It's not people

who,

it's a people

who acknowledge

their desperate

sinfulness

and folly

and their utter

inability

to save themselves

and people

who because of that

trust in Jesus

alone to save them

and His wisdom

alone to save them

they are the ones

for whom Jesus

becomes wisdom

from God.

Even the best

of wisdom

from the greatest

philosophers

throughout the ages

cannot make

what is crooked

straight.

You cannot supply

what is lacking

but in fulfillment

of Isaiah's prophecy

Luke 3 5

says about the coming

of Jesus

the crooked

shall become

straight

and the rough

places shall

become level ways

and all flesh

shall see

the salvation

of God.

In the life

and ministry

of Jesus

the lame walk

the deaf hear

the blind see

the dead are raised

the lepers

are cleansed

and most importantly

He makes sinners

atoned

and forgiven

by dying on the cross

as a sacrifice

for our sins.

It's so in Jesus

alone that the

crooked is made

straight

and what is lacking

is counted

what is broken

is made whole.

The whole of

Ecclesiastes

finds its ultimate

fulfillment in Jesus

and so to teach

us that

Solomon

the author of

Ecclesiastes

put this together

reminds us

it is futile

to seek happiness

in anything

other than Christ.

the preacher

reminds us

I became

as wiser

than all the

wise men

before me

but even still

my wisdom

could not

make me

happy

unless it's

capital

W

wisdom

Jesus Christ.

Then the preacher

applies himself

to the pursuit

of pleasure

he says in

chapter 2

verses 1 to 3

I said in my heart

come now

I will test you

with pleasure

enjoy yourself

but behold

this also

was vanity

I said of

laughter

it is mad

and of

pleasure

what use

is it

I search

with my

heart

to cheer

my body

with wine

my heart

still guiding

me

with wisdom

and how

to lay

hold

on folly

till I

might see

what was

good

for the

children

of men

to do

under

heaven

during

the few

days

of their

life

skipping

ahead a bit

to verses

8 to 10

he says

I also

gathered

for myself

silver

and gold

and the

treasure

of kings

and provinces

I got

singers

both men

and women

and many

concubines

the delight

of the

sons of

men

so I

became

great

and surpassed

all who

were before

me in

Jerusalem

also my

wisdom

remained

with me

and whatever

my eyes

desired

I did

not keep

from them

I kept

my heart

from no

pleasure

for my

heart

found

pleasure

in all

my

toil

and this

was my

reward

for all

my

toil

I'm

sure

some of

you have

been tempted

in the

past

to think

that if

I could

just enjoy

all the

pleasures

of life

without

restriction

without

any

inhibition

then I

would be

happy

then I

can be

truly

happy

well Solomon

says

been there

and done

that

he said

whatever

my eyes

desired

I did

not keep

from them

whenever he

saw any

artifact

or treasure

or clothes

or gadgets

that delighted

his senses

he said

buy it

get it

bring it

to my

home

why not

he has

all the

wealth

in the

world

he

whenever

he saw

any

delicacy

rich

foods

choice

wines

he never

said

no

he

took

all of

it

upon

himself

enjoy

them

all

he

drank

the

most

expensive

wines

whatever

substances

promised

pleasure

escaped

from the

pains

of life

he indulged

himself

I'm sure

he didn't

have those

then

he probably

had ancient

equivalents

of

marijuana

nicotine

alcohol

he's tried

it all

perhaps you

have thought

to yourself

that if you

had other

people

if you can

get other

people to

do all

your work

for you

if you

could just

save a lot

of money

really fast

and then

retire

and live

in retirement

and constant

vacation

for the rest

of your life

then I

can truly

be happy

been there

done that

not me

Solomon

he said

I bought

male and

female slaves

and as

slaves were

born in

my house

I also

had great

possessions

of herds

and flocks

more than

any who

had been

before me

in Jerusalem

he said

everybody else

to do all

of his work

perhaps your

idea of a

good life

is good

music

going to

concerts

and dancing

your life

away

Solomon

had a

personal

entourage

of singers

both men

and women

he says

to regale

him with

merry music

whenever he

wanted

whenever he

saw a

beautiful

or alluring

woman

he took

her

as his

wife

or as

his

concubine

1 Kings

11 2-3

tells us

Solomon

had 700

wives

who were

princesses

not just

any

normal woman

700

princesses

as wives

and he

had 300

concubines

that's a

harem

of a

thousand

women

he can

sleep

with a

different

woman

every day

of his

life

for two

years

and still

have

women

he has

not slept

with

in fact

because

Solomon

multiplied

wives

for himself

and married

foreign

idolatrous

woman

which was

forbidden

scripture

he says

in 1 Kings

11 4

that when

Solomon

was old

his wives

turned away

his heart

after other

gods

and his

heart

was not

wholly

true

to the

Lord

his

God

so this

is a

cautionary

tale

about the

corrosive

effect

of sin

sinful

pleasures

over time

but at

the time

he wrote

the book

of Ecclesiastes

it seems

Solomon still

had his

wits about

him

because he

reminds us

multiple times

in verse 3

he says

I search

with my

heart

how to

cheer my

body

with wine

my

heart

still

guiding

me

with

wisdom

and again

in verse 9

so I

became

great

and surpassed

all who

were before

me in

Jerusalem

also my

wisdom

remained

with me

so at

the time

he wrote

this

he still

had his

wits about

him

although

he'll

lose

that

eventually

because that's

what sin

does

but he

still had

his wits

about him

to be able

to write

this

and to

realize

that it's

all

vanity

so in

a way

he's

experimenting

with the

risky

pleasures

of life

for the

sake of

science

you guys

have heard

that right

yeah

it's like

it's not

unlike the

experiment

conducted by

Michael L.

Smith at

Cornell University

in 2014

we have a lot

of Cornell

grads in our

church

for the sake

of science

he subjected

himself to

bee stings

200 times

in 25

different parts

of his body

all so that

he can determine

which human

part of the

body experiences

the most pain

when stung

by a bee

and now

he created

that pain

index

with these

things

and published

it

you know

that's a

vanity

of vanities

similarly

to determine

experientially

and to

demonstrate

concretely

and not

merely

abstractly

that these

pleasures

are indeed

fleeting

and ultimately

futile

Solomon tried

them all

and this

is his

conclusion

behold

all was

vanity

and a

striving

after

wind

and there

was nothing

to be

gained

under

the sun

so don't

believe the

lie

when the

devil tempts

you and

says oh

if you

get this

you can

be happy

there's

someone

who's

done

it all

and it's

vanity

I think

Anthony

Bourdain

would agree

the beloved

celebrity

chef

professional

eater

of international

cuisine

and travel

documentarian

who hanged

himself

so that

he could

be happy

because all

the pleasures

that he

enjoyed

much more

than any

average

person

could not

make him

happy

there's a

joke that

is dated

at least

to the

early

1800s

I don't

find it

very funny

but they

call it

a joke

for some

reason

which has

recently

become an

internet

meme

it goes

like this

a man

who was

severely

depressed

went to

see a

therapist

I think

some of

you guys

know

he says

I'm

depressed

life

is

harsh

unforgiving

and cruel

at the

end of

the session

the therapist

doesn't

quite know

what to

do with

him

and so

he gives

him a

simple

counsel

I heard

that the

great clown

Pagliacci

is in

town

tonight

go and

see him

that should

cheer you

up

at that

moment

the man

bursts

into tears

and then

says

that will

not

work

why

not

the therapist

asks

the man

says

I

am

Pagliacci

the comics

who can

make

anyone

double over

in laughter

surely

they must

be happy

but look

at Robin

Williams

widely regarded

as the greatest

comedian

of all time

who hanged

himself

so that he

can be

happy

it's

madness

what use

is laughter

behold

this also

was

vanity

but

why

the

preacher

will tell

us

repeatedly

throughout

the book

because

it's

all

so

fleeting

because

it all

ends

in

death

now

Ecclesiastes

doesn't teach

us to

never enjoy

any

pleasures

in life

we're

going to

get to

the

passage

next

week

where

it will

teach

us

how to

properly

enjoy

the

pleasures

of

life

but

for

now

we

need

to

understand

the

futility

of

pleasure

in

an

ultimate

sense

I've

not seen

the Barbie

movie

which came out

last year

but I know

some of you

have seen it

multiple times

but I did

see a

YouTube clip

of a famous

scene called

Dance the Night

Away

you guys know

which scene

I'm talking

about

and in

the scene

it's

so remarkably

shallow

and so remarkably

profound

at the same

time

it's

it's

a scene

where a

whole bunch

of Barbies

and Kens

are just

dancing

the night

away

to a song

called

Dancing

the Night

and

and this

is the

conversation