Life is a Puzzle
Life is full of questions. Children often ask their parents some puzzling ones such as – Why is the sky blue? Where does the wind come from? Why is the sea salty? or What happens when we die?
As adults we find that life is still full of questions. Why are we here on this earth? How did this world come into being? Is there a god? If God is good, why is there so much suffering and death in the world? Is there any purpose in my being here?
Similar questions have been asked by philosophers, scientists and scholars for centuries. The wisest man who ever lived also found that life was a puzzle to him and caused many questions to arise in his mind.
One of the lesser well known books in the Bible is called Ecclesiastes. This title has been translated in various ways , but one of its meanings is ‘philosopher.’ This book is the musings of the famous king Solomon. As a young king, Solomon has asked God for wisdom to rule the nation of Israel. God answered his prayer by granting him exceptional wisdom and knowledge. Down through the centuries of time, the ‘wisdom of Solomon’ has become legendary.
Some of the questions in the mind of Solomon can be gleaned from the book of Ecclesiastes.
- Does life have any meaning? Solomon laments in chapter 1 verse 2 that ‘all is vanity’ (meaningless).
- What is the purpose of human endeavour? In verse 11 of chapter 1, the Philosopher says ‘I looked on the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do, and behold all was vanity’ (meaningless).
- Is life worth living at all? The wisest man who ever lived boldly declared, ‘ I hated life’ (chapter 2 verse 17).
- Why are the strong permitted to oppress the weak? Solomon observed ‘the tears of such as were oppressed’ (chapter 4 verse 1).
- Why are the wicked allowed to continue in their evil ways? Solomon observed the ‘wicked man that prolongeth his days in his wickedness’ (chapter 7 verse 15).
In order to provide answers to some of life’s biggest questions, we have written a small book called ‘Life, what’s it all about?’ The book is available to purchase from the publications page.