Ecclesiastes and Hot Air Balloons

I'm reading through Ecclesiastes right now.  The commentator on the passages I've been reading continually remarks on the cynicism of the Preacher (the author of Ecclesiastes).  And, indeed, the theme of Ecclesiastes is expressed in its oft-repeated cries of "Meaningless, Meaningless -- all is meaningless!"  Essentially, the writer says that we work and we die -- this is all of life.  At this point the blog commentator pontificates ... "for those who are “under the sun” (Eccl. 6:12) and nothing more, what else is there? ...

We need a deliverer from outside our myopic horizons." 

(For the Love of God blog)

The image that popped into my head?  Hot air balloons.  Why is that?  I'm glad you asked.

As a young teenager, I remember lying on my bed in my sun-drenched room gazing up at the simple poster on my wall depicting hot air balloons against a deep blue sky.  The caption on the poster read, 

"Lord, life me above my own narrow horizons

 that I may fulfill Your true vision for me!"  

Inscribed so clearly in my mind is that poster because I would often ponder God's vision for me often as I lay there.  What would my life be?  Looking at that poster, I truly felt that "the sky was the limit." I loved (and still do!) the image of hot air balloons rising above the earth, catching the whole view from a bird's eye perspective.  

So when I read Ecclesiastes and when I get encumbered in the day-to-day, I'm glad for the vivid image of the hot air balloons rising high above, and I try to envision the big picture that God sees beyond "my own narrow horizon."