The word “Ecclesiastes” means “the gathering.” Solomon calls himself, in Hebrew, qohelet, or “the preacher” or “the quester.” He was a man on a mission—a mission to discover the meaning of life. Are you one of those people (like my dear wife) who will turn to the last chapter of a novel and read it first in order to learn the conclusion of the matter? Solomon saves you the trouble in Ecclesiastes. He states his conclusion right up front: “Vanity of vanities … all is vanity” (1:2). The word “vanity”