Ecclesiastes’s message that things of this world are all ultimately meaningless resurfaced with a bang when the Baby Boomer activists of the 1960s and 70s rebelled against what they perceived to be the emptiness and hypocrisy of their parents’ goal-oriented lives in the 1950s.

Novels such as 1955’s “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit” began American youth’s rejection of business-dominated society.  This theme came into full flower with Mike Nichols’s 1967 movie “The Graduate,” starring Dustin Hoffman.  Of it, reviewer Tim Dirks wrote, “The theme of an innocent and confused youth who is exploited, mis-directed, seduced (literally and figuratively) and betrayed by a corrupt, decadent, and discredited older generation (that finds its stability in “plastics") was well understood by film audiences and captured the spirit of the times.” Works such as Paul Goodman’s “Growing Up Absurd” glossed this inchoate search for meaning with the patina of intellectuality.

Disaffected young people tried drugs, Weatherman underground terrorism, rock concerts, esoteric Eastern and American Indian religions, and a good deal of self-centered, whining introspection.

Apparently none of it worked.

Twenty-six years later, in May, 1993, reporter Michael Kelly’s interview with Hillary Clinton appeared in the New York Times Magazine.  In that interview, Mrs. Clinton spoke about the lack of spiritual meaning in contemporary society, giving rise to the name “Saint Hillary.”

Ecclesiastes would not have been surprised.

In his sermon this morning, Pastor Robert Childs reminded us of Ecclesiastes’s message that striving after worldly things is meaningless.  True wisdom is recognizing God’s gift of happiness in the blessings He has given us.  His gift of happiness is amplified by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the redemption of our sins.

Ecclesiastes tells us (6:2), “God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them ....” And in 6:9, “Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

As Pastor Childs noted, we must strive for balance, avoiding extremes and living graciously and lovingly with each other.  There is nothing wrong with working hard and striving for excellence in whatever you do.  As with Aristotle’s golden mean, however, too much of anything becomes a perversion.  Obsession with wealth, power, or sensual satisfaction is the opposite of the Apostle Paul’s message in his letter to the Philippian church.

Jesus expressed it succinctly:

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24)

Our ideal should be God’s love permeating our lives and radiating outward in all our dealings with our fellows.

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)

Thomas E. Brewton is a staff writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc.

His weblog is THE VIEW FROM 1776 http://www.thomasbrewton.com/