I prefer making sandcastles out of cement.

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
-Ecclesiastes 1:2-3

For the past few weeks my small group at home has been studying Ecclesiastes . At first I just wanted to rip out the pages of meaninglessness, “under the sun”, and confusion…but slowly it’s been turning into a sharp rebuke towards contentment, humility, enjoying life, and remembering our Maker. I take life, and especially myself and my agenda, way too seriously. (Hopefully I’ll write more later, but I wouldn’t count on my consistency:)

Ecclesiastes is a difficult book to understand–my grasp is pretty weak sauce, so you should just read this Max Lucado excerpt that was in a sermon my sg leader hooked me up with by Dr.Steve/P. Paul Kim:

Rhythmic waves, a little boy is on the beach. On his knees he scoops and pats the sand with plastic shovels into a bright red bucket. Then he upends the bucket on the surface and lifts it. And to the delight of the little architect a castle tower is created. All afternoon he will work spooning out the moat, packing the walls. Bottle tops will be the sentries. Pop sticks will be the bridges and a sand castle will be built.

Big city, busy streets, rumbling traffic. A man is in his office. At his desk he shuffles papers into stacks and delegates assignments. He cradles the phone on his shoulder and punches the keyboard with his fingers. Numbers are juggled and contracts are signed and much to the delight of the man a profit has finally been made. All his life he will work formulating the plans, forecasting the future. Annuities will be the sentries, capital gains will be the bridges and an empire will be built.

Two builders of two castles—they have much in common. They shape granules into grandeurs. They see nothing and make something. They are diligent and determined and for both the tide will rise and the end will come. And yet that is where the similarities cease. For the boy sees the end while the man ignores it. Watch the boy as the dusk approaches. As the waves near, the wise child begins to clap. There is no sorrow, no fear, no regret. He knew this would happen. He is not surprised, and when the great wave breaker crashes into his castle and his masterpiece is sucked into the sea he stands and smiles. He smiles and picks up his tools and quietly goes home.

The grownup however is not so wise. As the wave of years crash on his castle he is terrified and mortified. He hovers over the sandy monument to protect it. He blocks the waves from the walls he has made. Saltwater-soaked and shivering, he snarls at the incoming tide. “It is my castle,” he defies. The ocean need not respond. Both know to whom the sand belongs.

I don’t know much about sand castles, but children do. Watch them and learn. Go ahead and build, but build with a child’s heart. When the sun sets and the tides take, salute the process of life. Take your Father’s hand and go home. -Max Lucado

I may not ever aspire to be a business (wo)man with a 6 digit salary, but I still have my own agenda. Whether I call my sand castles “successful ministry”, “family that knows Christ personally”, “4.0 GPA”, “clients that are actually changing”, or “relationships that feed my heart”, it’s all the same. No matter the “motive”, a great Wave will come.

A great reminder to enjoy life and build away (Eccl. 3:11-13), but also to remember God (Eccl 12: 13-14).