Jamieson starts this book with the question, "Shouldn't you be happier?" and goes into all the ways we are the most prosperous society that has ever existed on the face of the earth - and yet, happiness is still elusive. Why? And what do we need to do differently? This is the topic of Ecclesiastes, and this book applies the categories of Ecclesiastes to modern American life very effectively.
First, he goes through the difficulties of life, which he labels as "the absurd" - some of these things would not necessarily need to be difficult (and in fact, by label seem like they should be the exact oppposite of difficult), but because of the broken world in which we live, they are. The topics in this category include gain, work, knowledge, pleasure, money, time, power, and death. This is a part where I think almost everyone will find themselves nodding along, feeling very familiar with what he is saying. A couple example quotes:
- "Pleasure's goalposts always move. You think that this relationship or that new food or this much money will finally make you happy, but then you get it, and it doesn't...Having everything you could possibly enjoy does not mean you will enjoy any of it. Like having pine needles, twigs, and crisp logs but nothing to light them, you could have a perfect house, piles of money, and impeccable prestige but get no warmth from any of it."
- "This clocked, contracted time constantly presses us, leaving even the most successful feeling time-poor. Many surveys indicate that present-day Americans, for instance, feel more harried, anxious and time squeezed than they used to. On average, Americans have at least as much leisure time as ever, yet feel more harried than ever."
Next, he goes through some of the things that are the gifts of this life, that can bring us happiness if we can receive the good things with a heart of gratitude. Some of the categories he covers in this section include Eat and Drink, Toil, Enjoy, Wealth, Marriage, and Resonance. Here are a couple example quotes from this section:
"Resonance occurs when some aspect of the world moves you, reaches you, touches you, or calls to you. In resonance, the wire connecting you to the world starts to hum. Resonance also involves the response of reaching out toward that which moves us: It happens when you are in some way able to move toward, reach in response, touch what touches you, and call back to what calls to you."
"To receive your lot rightly is to get to work planting, cultivating, tending, and harvesting. And your lot bears within itself the potential to yield joy: joy in the work, joy in its fruits, and joy in discovering the goodness and wholeness that come from adapting to your limits rather than trying, godlike, to bend the world to your will."
Finally, he covers thing that will bring the most ultimate, deep, satisfying, long-lasting happiness, and that is looking to God, understanding your place in relationship to Him, and then trusting and following Him. Here are a couple example quotes from this section:
"When you glimpse a humbling sight of God's hugeness or holiness, questions fall away. Though you cannot know his design, you do know it is vast. The more acutely you sense him, the more complete the silence that blankets your soul. You feel not merely honored but stunned to be loved and looked after by the same love that looks after a star twenty-eight billion light years away."
"Everything is never enough, but Jesus is. Jesus is enough to satisfy God's judgment on your behalf. And Jesus is enough to satisfy your soul forever. Jesus alone is God's answer to your life's absurdity."
This books is well written, both philosophical and practical, funny, wise, and so spot on for the application of Ecclesiastes to modern American life. I felt understood, encouraged, and pointed in the right direction by reading it, and I think many of you would share these feelings if you read it.
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