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Viewpoint from Matt Ashpole 07/10/2022
 Matt Ashpole
Youth Work Leader at Identity Youth Project
 As part of our honeymoon some years ago, my wife and I decided to camp in the Lake District. We loaded the car, set off and eventually arrived at this idyllic location. With tent set up overlooking the beautiful landscape we headed for a good night’s sleep
During the night there was a storm and we discovered something about our tent… it had a hole in it! Water was invading our once dry interior. Now generally, you don’t sleep in water - right!? However, here we are doing exactly that – far from idyllic some might say
 The following morning having explained our predicament to the site owner, we discovered something else. The guy had a vacant horse area and… it was ours for the duration of our stay if we wanted it. So, feeling a little like Mary and Joseph we set up camp under the stable-like roof
During this stay we discovered two things. Firstly, the tent was leaking and secondly, that the guy had some available shelter! Discovery, it is fair to say, plays a big part within each of our lives. We discover who we are, what we’re good at, new places, new techniques, different languages, etc. Discovery is a vital part of life
People spend countless hours trying to discover new cures, new techniques, new opportunities. However, I think it’s safe to say that at some point most people will try to discover why they exist on this floating ball that we currently inhabit. A voyage of discovery into our meaning and purpose some might say
In a book named Ecclesiastes in the Bible, King Solomon is grappling with this quest of discovery into life’s meaning and purpose. Here is a King who is intelligent, wealthy and wise - a King who had tried everything life had to offer. Yet - the more he observed, the more meaningless things seemed and the more things he tried, the emptier he felt. I wonder if you can relate to that feeling?
King Solomon concluded that God is the one through which his meaning and purpose was found. In the concluding chapter of his book, he writes “Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken”
I wonder where you are in your quest for meaning and purpose today? Perhaps there’s something in Solomon’s words for you
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