"ከንቱ ድካም" (Kintu Dikam — Vain Labour)

"ከንቱ ድካም" (Kintu Dikam — Vain Labour) “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” The Hebrew word is הֶבֶל — hevel — breath, vapour, mist. Not “meaningless” exactly, but transient, ungraspable, here and gone. The Preacher says it about wisdom, pleasure, work, wealth, youth, and life itself. And he is not being cynical — he is being honest. Everything under the sun is vapour. You cannot hold it. You cannot keep it. You cannot take it with you. “As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return… and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?” (Ecclesiastes 5:15–16). Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 is the turn: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment.” So the Preacher’s answer to vanity is not “eat, drink, and die.” It is: your labour is vain because you are labouring for the wind. Labour instead for the One who will judge the labour. Same work, different master. Same days, different account. And then the New Testament completes it. Paul says the thing Ecclesiastes could only hint at: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” — 1 Corinthians 15:58