Why are we here? Our work is pointless!
By Brian Forbes
(C) 2011 Brian Forbes

I was sitting by myself at lunch today, listening to the conversations around me.  Some talked about work.  Some talked about politics.  Some talked about their experiences.  I was struck by the notion that (almost) all we do is pointless.  Even this thought has been pondered before I was ever here.  "Everything under the sun is meaningless, like chasing the wind." (Ecc. 1:14)

Think about any occupation.  Teaching: been done before, and honestly, are you really even worthy of this post?  You've been alive, what, 40 years?  Building buildings: that's the industry I work in, meaningless!  God could do it in far less time, with far more interesting stuff.  This occupation seems to be meaningless to me.  It's more of a curse than a blessing.  

So, I thought to myself, what can I do in my life that God can't do better?  I thought, and I thought.  I thought some more.  I could learn.  God can't learn.  Ha!  That's nothing to boast about.  I am created.  God can't say that about Himself.  Bugs are created.  They can probably learn too.  I'm no better than a bug.  I thought some more.  I can love God!  Now, that's something nobody can do; you can't adequately love yourself.  But, even then, the nature of the trinity lets God love Himself for all of eternity.  I think of those higher things I've applied myself to throughout my life.  I studied computers.  That was worthless.  Hardware pricing kept changing.  Hardware compatibility too.  Software knowledge is fleeting, some software faster than others, but still.  All the things I program will be programmed better by someone else, eventually.  Even if it doesn't, God could do it in a split second, with the ability to heal itself and grow.  That would be real AI.  Then I think about my studies.  I tried my faith.  I looked into other religions.  I learned a lot about apologetics.  The fact is, God already knows this stuff, and He can prove that He exists to anyone.  He doesn't have to use fancy arguments.  I think about my book.  God knows how it all started, and, really, others have written my book better than I did - hundreds of years ago.  Even if the information has been largely forgotten in the modern day, it doesn't make it unknown to God.  I bet someone else in the modern day has written the book better than I have, and I'll probably read the guy's book some day.  I'm not unique in this.  God can instruct us better than I can instruct you.  So, really, I can't think of anything that I've done in my entire life that is worth the mention.  Medicine, preaching, growing, creating, planning, networking, God can do it.

 I thought of something that I can do that God can't do.  I can be a recipient of his gifts.  I can accept his mercy, and feel is favor.  This is something.  I can learn his wisdom, and practice his values.  This really is something.  As I try to shoot this notion down with the "others have done it", it falls flat.  Nobody complains that others have enjoyed a TV show or book before I did.  Nobody says, "I don't need to go on that ride, Freddy already did it."  This is really hitting on something.  We are not here to do a work.  We are here to enjoy a work.  We are not here to imagine up a work, but to join in on one that is already being accomplished.  Everything else is useless, it seems to me.  Our efforts really are meaningless.