A Poem, A Song & Ecclesiastes

For the last week, I've been reading Ecclesiastes as part of my Lenten season Bible study. As I read it, two things come to mind, a poem and a song.
The poem is "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley. For those unfamiliar with this little sonnet...

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Now, contrast that with the song, "Dust In The Wind" by Kansas...

I close my eyes
Only for a moment, then the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind
All they are is dust in the wind

Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind

Now, don't hang on
Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away
And all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
Everything is dust in the wind
Everything is dust in the wind
The wind

This is a theme that recurs throughout Ecclesiastes; all that we do in this life is at best temporary, no more than a lifetime. In fact, Kerry Livgren and the members of Kansas were building the song around that book, and it is far less subtle than the Shelley poem, which deals mainly with human arrogance. Still, the point remains.
If all of this is true, then what is the point? To make the best of what time we have, to do so with humility and modesty and the understanding that this life is short. It doesn't matter whether you live less than a decade or you become a centenarian, we all suffer the same fate. Do not be too boastful and proud, for you will die just as the most meek among us.
Yet as grim an outlook as this is, it should serve to remind us that God wants for us to love one another and help one another make it through this life. Here, in this world, ultimately, we are all we physically have. Money is meaningless. Power is meaningless. Life... that's important. That's the most valuable thing we possess. Life... and time. The two are inexorably tied together, and one should not waste either.
Everything is dust in the wind. Nothing beside remains.
"For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his life, which he passes like a shadow?" Ecclesiastes 6:12.