In 1993 Ty, Inc, an American Toy Manufacturer, introduced a new line of stuffed animals called Beanie Babies. They were a lost cost (about $5 each) toy with 9 different animal related identities including Squeaker the Pig and Spot the Dog. At first they did not garner much attention. So the company decided to limit the numbers that they would allow toy stores to buy and also “retired” some of the beanies on a scheduled basis. As a result, the toys acquired a sense of being “scarce” transferring them from just a kid’s toy to a financial investment. Beanie Babies that sold for $5 were being routinely sold for upwards of $900. The highest grossing Beanie in history was Large Wallace and His Squid which brought in $600,000. Some retirements were funded by Beanies. But the bubble burst as quickly as it appeared. By 2000 you could buy retired Beanie Babies at 3 for $10 and later they could be found in most dollar stores.
Lillian Russell was the most famous woman in the world at the turn into the 20th Century. Lillian was the most well known female vaudeville singer of that era. Frank Fay was the greatest comedian of the same era and the person comedians, such as Bob Hope, patterned themselves over.
Chester Arthur. Who is that!!?? Only the 21st President of these here United States of America serving from 1881 to 1885. He is responsible for rebuilding the Navy. How about Victoria Woodhull? Victoria Founded the Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly, the first newspaper founded by a woman and was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in 2001.
Today’s first reading is from Ecclesiastes. It is believed that this book from the Old Testament was authored by Qoheleth. Many believe that Qoheleth is really King Solomon. The phrase most remembered from this book is “Everything is Vanity”. Now for most, myself included, who read this phrase for the first time, assume it refers to being vain. As in the Carly Simon song, “You’re So Vain.” Or the magazine Vanity Fair, which focuses on fashions that get the world to notice you. But that is not what Solomon is referring to.
In the context of the reading, vanity means “Fleeting”. That things of this world are here for only a short time. Such as the latest and greatest toys, or actors who receive the world’s adulation or the movers and the shakers of the political world. Here today and gone tomorrow. As he states near the end of the reading:
Because man goes to his lasting home,
and mourners go about the streets;
Before the silver cord is snapped
and the golden bowl is broken,
And the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
and the broken pulley falls into the well,
And the dust returns to the earth as it once was,
and the life breath returns to God who gave it.
Pretty uplifting, don’t you think? We get so tied up in the news of the day, the Kardasians, the highest ranked TV shows and movies, the greatest quarterback of all time (how many remember Bobby Lane or Y.A. Tittle) or the latest video game system that you had to have. All of it is just a breath of wind in the great wind storm of history. And are these the things we “hitch our wagon to” (a saying that was very popular in its day)? What level of permanence do they hold. Will the generation 50 years from now know who Tom Cruise was, or that the Rams won the Super Bowl last year? Do you know that many in the most recent generation have no idea who the Beatles are!?
So what does last? Solomon has the last word here as well. Near the end of Chapter 12 he tells us:
The last word, when all is heard: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this concerns all humankind;
The wagon we are to hitch to is Christ of course. He is arguably more famous now than he was 2,000 years ago. His impact on the culture is unmistakable. The Bible is the most published book in history. Even from a secular standpoint it is hard to argue against Jesus as being the most influential person in history.
But his influence goes beyond mere mortals. We know as Christians that a life of following the teachings of Our Lord is rewarded by life eternal. His Passion and death were not the end, as most of the disciples believed after the crucifixion. His Resurrection defeated death and gave us the promise of heaven. Something that even Wallace and His Squid could never accomplish.
