UNDER THE SUN AND STRIVING AFTER THE WIND. “I have seen everything done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind” (1:14). These metaphors emphasize two things: the lasting significance of the earth, and humanity’s ephemeral nature in comparison. We desire to have lasting significance, like that of the earth, but cannot attain it. Our efforts are failed attempts to attain this permanence. We cannot catch the wind. We cannot achieve the lasting significance