Ecclesiastes 6: Evil Under The Sun

I wonder if Solomon was talking about himself in Ecclesiastes 6?  Tradition tells us that Ecclesiastes is the product of his old age, whereas Proverbs was written in his middle age and the Song of Solomon in his youth.  If this is the case, then perhaps we have here the observations of a man frustrated about his impending mortality and the inevitability of his leave-taking of the world.

"There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy upon humankind: those to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that they lack nothing of all that they desire, yet God does not enable them to enjoy these things, but a stranger enjoys them.  This is vanity; it is a grievous ill" (vs. 1-2).

In other words, what good is a life without enjoyment?  As Solomon writes a little later, "Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good - do not all go to one place?" (vs. 6).

To me, Solomon sounds bitter that he has worked hard his whole life and now feels that he is about to depart without having enjoyed the fruits of his labor.  He frets that someone else will come along after him and enriched by the accomplishments that Solomon has worked for.  This gnaws at him as a profound injustice.

If we were to diagnose Solomon as being at a stage of grief (for having to say good-bye to the things he has worked for in life), I would say chapter 6 qualifies as "anger."  He rails against the nature of life and sees no solution to it.  Since everyone ends in death, and - to him - death is a state that is the same for everyone, important questions of fairness and justice go unanswered.

How does a Christian worldview respond to Solomon's concern?  With Jesus' teaching of the reality of heaven and hell, it opens up possibilities unconsidered by Solomon's wisdom.  The end of earthly life is not the end of the story - there is still a day of reckoning to come.

If we live with our eyes fixed on eternity, would we make different choices?  Would we manifest a different attitude?  Would we live with a different hope?