9 The Emptiness of Life In the Bible God illustrates this futility through the life of one man, King Solomon, who had everything (book of Ecclesiastes). We see evidence of this emptiness in our newspapers, in the biographies of successful people, and in our songs (I can’t get no satisfaction and I try and I try . . .). I discuss these evidences much more thoroughly in the CD attached to the front cover. Let’s remember that God is the One who subjects you and I to this emptiness. So this leads us to another very big question: Why does God subject us to emptiness? The Purpose of Emptiness God subjects us to emptiness, because He is trying to get our attention. God is reminding you and I that we have One major decision in this life. This is the most important decision in our life, but we have a big problem - we don’t know the future. This emptiness is not a temporary state of mind based on the diffi- culties or failures of life. It actually seems to intensify when we achieve our goals. It is so troubling that some of us deny its reali- ty, others try to sedate its disturbing influence with drugs or alco- hol (e.g. Elvis), while most of us try to “stay busy” just to avoid thinking about it. Sunday neurosis is a phrase that Victor Frankl coined to describe the depression we feel when we slow down on Sundays and think about the lack of meaning in our lives.3 This is our decision: We must decide if we want to continue going our own way or if we want to go God’s Way.