November 11, 2012: The Myth of a Good Day’s Work – Michael Hidalgo

Even the sound of the world toil is exhausting. The word that speaks of the toil the Teacher undertakes speaks of strain, toil, agonizing labor – overdoing instead of just doing. Sometimes the word means misery, not just toil. This is why Joseph thanks God for making him forget his misery (Gen 41.51) and why Job considers his life as misery (Job 3.10, 5.7a).

When we hear the words of the Teacher he is saying, in the most basic sense, “Life sucks then you die.” This is the burdensome labor, toil, misery of mankind. Why? Because no matter how hard one works – it will still go on to someone else someday.

There is a temptation to resolve all of this. We want to believe that what we do matters. We want to know that our work in this world somehow makes a difference and changes things. However, there is a sense in which it may also be good to let the pointlessness of toil sink in. What can this say to workaholics and those who seek find life in their work rather than put life into their work?