As I said in the first part of this series, life is difficult and complex, and you and I will never have all the answers or know all the secrets. Yeah, so much of life is utterly meaningless and stupid, but the good news is that we can embrace that, without trying so hard to change it; or pretending to have all the secrets.
We see in Ecclesiastes a king of great power and wisdom who tests all things to find meaning and happiness and finds himself at the same conclusion again and again: that everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind; and that nothing was gained under the sun. However, the hope he gives again and again is that a person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil.
Ben Goldwasser of MGMT told Pitchfork that the new self-titled album is about “accepting that the world is totally messed up, and the apocalypse is going to happen whether we want it to or not, and finding something beautiful to live for.”
In their new music video for their second single, “Cool Song No. 2” Michael K. Williams (The Wire, Boardwalk Empire) “plays a character called The Plant Hunter – a “new jack” thief who spends his days turning genetically modified plants into drugs,” as Rolling Stone describes.
The Plant Hunter is caught up in a system he can’t escape. He’s doing things he never thought he’d do, like killing strangers and putting close friends at risk.
All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. –Ecclesiastes 3:23
There’s a proverb in chapter 4 of Ecclesiastes that speaks to this dangerous way of searching for meaning, happiness and success through toil:
The fool folds his hand and ruins himself. Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
There are three mentions of the word “hand” here, and in all three a different Hebrew word is used. The first is the word yad, which is a hand that signifies strength or power. The fool folds yā·ḏāw (his hands), and ruins himself. The fool takes his hands that should be used with strength and power—to get things done—and he takes them and folds them together, refusing to do a single thing with the strength and power he was given. We see this in cynics; those who refuse to participate in this world out of bitterness and past hurts and mistakes; those who say “I’ve seen it all before and there is no way I’m risking it again”. Folded hands may protect someone from hurt but it also prevents anything good and wondrous from coming in as well. All the best things in life begin as a risk.
The second mention of hand is the word kaph, which refers to an open palm. It comes from the root word, kaphaph, which means to bow down. To have an open palm of tranquility is to unfold your hands and be open to all possibilities of this life, whether good or bad.
The third mention of hand is the word chophen, referring to a handful closed tight into fists, “…with toil and chasing after the wind.” And this is the position we find our Plant Hunter. He’s stuck with this hands closed tight, and he has gone too far to escape now.
Things end up going so far that his friend is affected and The Plant Hunter is overwhelmed with guilt, as he does anything he can to save his friend’s life.
After giving this proverb, the writer of Ecclesiastes says:
Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:
There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—a miserable business!
The Plant Hunter fails to save his friend, as he holds his dear friend’s decomposing body.
It is in these moments that the preciousness of life disrupts the closed-fisted blind race of meaningless toil. All that truly matters come in and rupture the meaningless chasing after the wind; the search for meaning and happiness in such temporary and futile things. It’s all vanity. And sadly, many people do not realize they have fallen too deeply into closed-fisted, white-knuckled chasing after the wind until tragedy strikes.
The Plant Hunter finds himself infected with the same thing that killed his friend, and all he can do is mourn the life he’s lost, in the meaningless wind.
If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! –Ecclesiastes 4:10
Damon Garcia 