Bucket List

As we were enjoying a morning together yesterday on the golf course, a friend from Parkside who was agonizing through a bad hole told me, "Solomon must have been a golfer. This is all meaningless!"

I'll admit I've felt that frustration in more significant circumstances than just a bad day on the links. It is so difficult for me to keep an eternal perspective on life. I'd rather throw up my hands and curse every injustice or misfortune that comes my way. My cries about the meaninglessness of life are much more cynical than what I read from Solomon in Ecclesiastes.

If you haven't read Ecclesiastes lately, stop and read at least the first 3 chapters right now or listen to the podcast of last weekend's message. As dreary as he might come across, I think Solomon really got it.

I've kept a "bucket list" (in my head) for years, but Solomon is challenging me to rethink it. I'm still sky-diving before I'm 50 and climbing Kilimanjaro, but there's an urgency to pursue more significant goals; to test the wisdom of Scripture and challenge myself to go after God's ambitions instead of mine.

I've got a notion that Solomon is right. No matter whether I succeed or fail, my pursuits are pretty much meaningless. What remains to be seen in my life is what might be produced if I let God have full control and offered my full attention only to things that last. Kind of scarey to think what that could mean, but given the futility of doing it my way, well worth the risk.

So, tell me about your bucket list. How has reading Ecclesiastes affected your perspective? Got any ideas for my new bucket list?