New year’s reflections Part 1

Solomon in Ecclesiastes pictured the meaninglessness(NIV) of life with the image of a soap bubble. The word is used 38 times in the book, so it, therefore, must be significant to understand the book. This is the meaning of the Hebrew word for vanity(NKJV). A soap bubble is something that is beautiful, catching the colours of the rainbow, then bursting without a trace. This is Solomon’s commentary on life without God. Ecclesiastes is my favourite book in the OT because it spoke to me of the things that had been troubling me prior to my conversion. I was always troubled by the thought that my father’s death, which happened when I was 16, could be summed up by the word meaninglessness. After my father’s death, I was troubled with the futility of his life – once I died no one would even know he had been here! At that point, I determined I would not live and die and never know why, that I would not go out of this life not knowing why I came into it.

At the age of 17 I wanted to find out if God was real. I prayed that IF He were there, that He would reveal Himself to me. The ‘IF’ was a big one because I wasn’t even sure there was a God. My autobiography, which chronicles my search, is called “Whispering Eternity.” Something beyond was calling me, and I set out on a quest to investigate every religion I could lay my hands on and see if I could piece it all together and come up with the meaning of life. Amidst my vagabond days, I eventually discovered that of all the tombs of all the philosophers that ever lived there is only one that is empty!

I hope you will join me from January 1 as we walk with Paul through the early days of Christianity. We will trace Paul’s life and 13 letters. If you have friends who you think might like to join the journey send me (with their permission) their SMS # or email to be added to the list.