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Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is completely meaningless! Nothing has any Meaning.”

Are you starting to feel this way? Is there ever going to be an end to this seemingly unending self-isolation of 2020? Do you worry this is actually our way of life rather than the promised short term wait for vaccination and freedom?

I turn on the radio, read the news, scroll through social media, and it’s all the same: coping with life in a pandemic. People are struggling with things being shut down and being stuck inside. The months are taking their toll, the novelty has worn off, we are in this for the long hall. We go from yellow to orange to red and back again. People are feeling isolated, lonely, and sad. I was talking with a friend on the phone the other day and she asked me if my life has changed now that I am once again in a red zone.

There is no change, it is no different.

By design and life circumstances, the busy life of a suburban stay at home mom I once knew was stripped away in what feels like a blink of an eye. My kids are grown and for the most part self-sufficient. My parents have passed away and no longer need my help. I’ve downsized, getting rid of years of accumulations. Having moved closer to the city for a new job, my environment doesn’t even look remotely like what I have been familiar with my entire life. My community obligations are gone. It’s a blank slate, a time to start over: something I think many of us have dreamed of doing. It’s adventure and possibility. Everything and anything I add back into my life will be a choice.

The pandemic has in a way done the same. It has stripped out the superfluous activities that keep us running around, forced us to strip celebrations down to the barest necessities, to find simpler ways to express our love. Lavish parties are reduced to phone calls, social interactions to drive by smiles, and shopping to Amazon delivery. Our day to day life, the world as we know it, is completely changed. We have been confined to our homes, some are completely alone for the first time. Our jobs have been relocated to our living rooms, favourite restaurants to our kitchens, and vacations to our home. We are confined to a box that can be considered a prison or an opportunity.

Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is completely meaningless! Nothing has any Meaning.”

I am always surprised at how much comfort this quote gives me as it is not the usual kind of quote you would find on a plaque in a gift shop. It is from the Bible, in the book of Ecclesiastes. The author is unknown and is simply referred to as the Teacher. It is his quest to find the meaning of life. The teacher, looking for happiness, amasses a fortune, accumulates possessions, and studies hard. He witnesses the injustices of the world and how mankind attempts to change but falls far from the mark over and over again. He sees the words of the wise ignored, while those of the foolish are revered. He sees people who appear to have everything you could ever want in life stripped to nothing. In the end, he says, we all end up in the same place, so what is the point?

Thousands of years later, these words still ring true. It is discouraging, as it doesn’t seem like we have progressed all that far. I listen to the cries of the people who say it is their right to not wear a mask, hear reports of illegal gatherings in community halls and homes. I understand people are tired. It’s not fun anymore. They want this isolation to end. They want to party and play. My head feels like it is going to explode as I witness the continued infractions and I am saddened that we are in a time and place that police are now giving out tickets for too many friends meeting at once.

My plans for new adventures and the promises of things to come are like the little birds outside my window, fluttering in the distance, slightly beyond my reach. I long for the day I can go outside without worry, stress, or restrictions. I do my part in the fight against the pandemic. I stay indoors and I remain alone, feeling stale and unmotivated. This overwhelming sense of never-ending isolation threatens to swallow me whole. The Teacher’s words give me solace and a voice as I imagine him throwing up his hands and walking out of the room screaming the meaningless rant.

But these are only his opening words. What follows in his book are pages and pages describing life and what can make it good. He is very blunt, raw, and to the point. Life isn’t easy, so be ready for it. Enjoy the moments that are good. What’s important is who you are, not only in the good times but also in the bad.

So, what happens when a vaccination is found? When restrictions are lifted, calendars get filled again and everything is open? What happens when, in a sense, the world speeds up? What is your day going to look like? Will you return to the life you had before, filled with routines and obligations you may have come to resent? Will you go back to the big celebrations that you never really enjoyed? Will you go back to competing with your neighbour for the biggest or the best house, car, yard, decorations? Will you jump back into the rat race?

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die, 
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Perhaps, this is the time to plan, to dream, to consider what is most important in our lives. Taking heed of the Teachers’ words and not focusing on the frustrations of today, but on what we really want our life to look like.

Love,