Blossom is the meaning of life

I can’t apologise for the last couple of days. I have set myself the task of travelling through the Bible and writing about what I read each day as honestly and faithfully as I can. Don’t worry if you haven’t completed the exercises I set – even my husband wouldn’t do yesterday’s as he felt it would be unhelpful for him. All I hope is that I haven’t lost you, because believe me, it does get better. And quickly too – even today, there is a glimmer of something far more positive.

There are three verses at the end of Ecclesiastes 2 that it would be easy to skip over. Especially if you are drowning in the futility of life as pointed out so eloquently in the rest of the chapter.

But before we come to those, let me tell you about my dog walk yesterday.

I often walk the dogs in the same place. At pretty much the same time every day. I do two laps around a small wood. I don’t see anyone else.

When I arrived yesterday, it all felt pretty futile. What’s the point in this? Why have dogs at all? What does walking round and round in circles here actually achieve? What does anything I actually do really achieve?

Except that despite myself, that feeling of futility soon lifted. The sun was shining. The sky was blue. The view across to the Angel of the North was stunning. The same sun, the same sky, the same view as any other day and yet today…it radiated glory somehow. The blossom that had been just green buds the last time had now erupted into into pure white breathtaking fragility. The dogs literally made me laugh out loud as they dashed after each other in and out of the trees.

There was no reason for any particular meaning in that particular moment. Except that there was. There was meaning.Not a rational meaning that I can prove with words or figures. There was a depth. A significance. A connection with something outside of myself.

Something that made my spirits soar and my soul proclaim ‘Yes! This is it! This is what life is all about!’

We all have these moments. Those times when it feels like something far more significant is going on is actually apparent on the surface. Those times when we want time to stand still. Those times that we wish we could bottle and keep forever. Those times that ‘ring true’, that feel like our soul is aligned with the soul of the universe. Those times that are hard to describe but we all know and recognise what I’m talking about here.

Strangely I had one of these moments at 6pm on Bank Holiday Monday. And what was strange was that I remember exactly the same feeling at 6pm on other Bank Holiday Mondays. I was walking down from the bus stop having taken Jordan to the Metro Centre for a hair cut. The day hadn’t been particularly extraordinary. We hadn’t really achieved anything extraordinary or done anything particularly exciting. And yet in that moment, I felt a part of something huge. Like the world expanded before my eyes and became more real, more vivid. The rightness of it all enveloped me. Like this was a gap in time – a gift, not a normal day, a Monday that was not a Monday…I can’t describe it. All I know is I stood still in the street. I had to. I wanted this feeling to go on forever. But of course, it didn’t. These precious moments of significance fly in and out of our lives life butterflies.

‘But all you’re describing is just feelings’ I hear you say. ‘Is that what life is about? Feelings? You’re basing the meaning of life on feelings?’

Kind of. Except it’s not feelings exactly. It’s more than feelings.It goes much deeper than feelings. It’s beyond the happiness or frustration or rage or any other emotion that we feel on the surface. It’s far more deep-rooted than that. It’s a reaction of the soul – something intuitive, instinctive…I don’t know, I can’t find the right word. It is not rational. It cannot be explained. It transcends understanding. It is a spiritual connection with something outside of ourselves. With the universe. The creator. Love. A divine being. Call it what you want.

I call it God.

So does the writer of Ecclesiastes –

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.  Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

Again, the words are a bit inadequate to properly explain what is going on here. Yes, we all eat and drink, we all work. All humans do the same things over and over again. All humans go through the motions. But it seems that some finds satisfaction and enjoyment in what they do and others do not. As I said before, I’m not talking superficial satisfaction or enjoyment that come from a bar of chocolate or a payslip or a glass of wine….these (whilst nice to have) are pretty empty in themselves. I’m talking about a depth of satisfaction and enjoyment…that only comes from God. It’s there – ‘without God, who can eat or find enjoyment?’ We see it all the time – no amount of money or success or celebrity can buy happiness at the end of the day.

As I say, you may not call it God. You may call it the universe, the creator, love, a divine being… whatever you call it, it’s about recognising and acknowledging that there is another dimension to life, a depth, a spiritual dimension. This is what gives meaning. This is accessible to all of us. These glimpses of eternity. These moments of profound significance that call out from outside of ourselves to connect with our souls and resonate through the universe. We can’t force them. They often come when we’re least expecting it. But we can be open to them. Recognise them when they come for what they are. Enjoy them while they last. Be grateful for them when they’re gone.

Tell me you know what I’m getting at.

TO DO: Be open to experiencing one of these moments of significance today. You may not. I may not. But if you do, enjoy.