“Vanity of vanities,” exclaimed the fabulously wealthy King Solomon after conducting a long experiment in enjoying every kind of luxury. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2 NKJV).
During the past couple of years, travelling about with time to spare, I have discovered a number of things about myself. One is that I have mixed feelings about stately homes.
As a member of the National Trust I have the privilege of free access, during the season, to over 300 historic buildings all round the country. I wouldn’t say that I don’t still enjoy visiting such places. There’s always some new focus of interest. I am not even too bothered by having to fight my way through crowds (sometimes almost literally) to get round. I appreciate that the Trust is very popular and others have just the same right to be there as I do.
It’s really a case of knowing too much about how these places came into existence. The two words “conspicuous consumption” just about cover it. If you had the good(?) fortune to rise in wealth or status in past times, the social set you moved among would expect you to keep up appearances. To do this meant spending your gains on colossal building projects, on acquiring curios, engaging in the social whirl, travel and other pursuits that made a good impression in the right places.
What of the people who were involved in providing the services that kept this aristocratic leisure industry in being? The whole enterprise would certainly provide employment for a large workforce in the professions, the crafts and trades. It was, in that sense, good for the local economy. But then there were the countless menial workers who lived a life of sheer drudgery and often danger to keep the whole business going.
Sometimes you can spot in the great houses a hint of recognition of the roles of these lowly people. I am thinking of Penrhyn Castle in North Wales. This full-scale mock-Norman castle was a massive statement of the power of the Pennant family. For many generations they had profited from the slave trade. When this was abolished they continued to amass enormous wealth, but did so now from the slate mines at nearby Bethesda.
Amid all the signs of showy opulence in the Castle there hangs a painting depicting quarry workers at their perilous and wretched toil. It is sobering to study the picture and consider how the Castle, that overbearing monument to the vain pretensions of man, stands today as a result of their humble labours. It is also pleasing that, in the work of art, these toilers gain at least a little belated credit.
But back to King Solomon and the Bible book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon was like one of the castle-building landed gentry but with a philosophical turn of mind. For him the years of leisure and wealth were the opportunity for a giant experiment to find out what really matters in life. At various times he tried laughter, alcohol, building projects, financial investment and wisdom. He concluded that all were pointless.
Solomon seemed to sink into despair until the very last two verses.
Fear God and keep his commandments,
For this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether it is good or whether it is evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
In other words, every activity is meaningful after all … because God judges it! Everything is significant because nothing escapes His notice.
It is easy to feel that you are just a meaningless cog in a wheel, engaged in dead-end work, going nowhere. But that is not how God sees us. As the Lord Jesus says,
“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:29-32).
As for my visits to the former estates of the rich, I get more pleasure out of going round the gardens than the houses nowadays. There is more room to move. Nature is better than man-made display. The gardens also give me ideas for plants for when I again have a workable garden of my own.
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