Ecclesiastes begins with a startling diagnosis: life “under the sun” can feel like smoke: fleeting, frustrating, and impossible to hold. In this Ash Wednesday message, we explore the way this book punctures our illusions about control, success, and satisfaction. Yet Ecclesiastes also invites us to look beyond the smokiness of life to the truth about our fragility, and we hold fast to the deeper hope that God entered our dust in Jesus Christ, and in Him our lives are not vapor, but held.