More Money, More Problems

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 6.7-12
7 Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, 
yet their appetite is never satisfied. 
8 What advantage have the wise over fools? 
What do the poor gain 
by knowing how to conduct themselves before others? 
9 Better what the eye sees 
than the roving of the appetite. 
This too is meaningless, 
a chasing after the wind. 
10 Whatever exists has already been named, 
and what humanity is has been known; 
no one can contend 
with someone who is stronger. 
11 The more the words, 
the less the meaning, 
and how does that profit anyone? 
12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone? 

Reflection: More Money, More Problems
By John Tillman

Jim Carrey has said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” 

A popular social media meme shows a person quoting the truism, “Money will not fix all your problems,” and a reply saying, “…no offense but…I don’t have a single problem money wouldn’t solve.”

Notorious BIG’s hit song tells us, “…the more money we come across, the more problems we see.”

The teacher of Ecclesiastes shows us that Carrey’s quote, the meme, and the lyric hold truth.

Ecclesiastes describes and laments the struggles of the poor, recognizing that wealth makes life more comfortable and poverty crushes the spirit. However, the teacher has experienced exactly what Carrey and BIG describe. Wealth and pleasure beyond anyone’s dreams came to the teacher, yet his spirit was still crushed with meaninglessness. Wealth does solve problems, but soon deeper problems are revealed. 

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is visualized as a pyramid. Basic needs, such as food and shelter, are the bottom, and higher-order needs are the top. This visual metaphor communicates that basic needs must be met before “climbing” up to pursue higher needs. However, this imagery may give a false impression that higher “spiritual” needs are less substantive or important.

Treating spiritual needs as if they are the tip top of some mountain that we pursue after sating other hungers is why our culture is starving in meaninglessness.

Spiritually, the base of our pyramid is to live not on bread but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4.4; Deuteronomy 8.3) This basic hunger of our soul has only one source—the teachings of Christ. “For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6.33) Physical need points to spiritual need. This is why we fast and pray. Physical lack reminds us of our spiritual lack and God’s grace to us in both.

Wealth doesn’t solve all problems or fill our deepest spiritual needs. That doesn’t mean telling the poor, “Money won’t solve your problems. Try Jesus.” (Mark 7.11-13) But it does mean that those who look like they have it all often are spiritually starving to death.

Problems, physical or spiritual, are inroads for the gospel. The more problems we come across, the more need of God we see.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Love the Lord, all you who worship him; the Lord protects the faithful, but repays to the full those who act haughtily. — Psalm 31.23

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 6 (Listen 1:44)
Psalm 56-57 (Listen 2:11)

Read more about Artful Prayers
In the psalms, we enter the lived emotion of artists who bared their souls to God in prayers that were always intended to be performed.

Read more about Pause To Read
After a short hiatus, our podcast is back with an episode on what we can learn from Jesus’ hotheaded disciples. Don’t miss it.

Over the Brink of Success

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 2.10-11, 15-18
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; 
I refused my heart no pleasure. 
My heart took delight in all my labor, 
and this was the reward for all my toil. 
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done 
and what I had toiled to achieve, 
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; 
nothing was gained under the sun. 

15 Then I said to myself, 
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also. 
What then do I gain by being wise?” 
I said to myself, 
“This too is meaningless.” 
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; 
the days have already come when both have been forgotten. 
Like the fool, the wise too must die! 

17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.

Reflection: Over the Brink of Success
By John Tillman

Proverbs gives us expectations about wisdom and its outcomes. The wise prosper, find success, and are satisfied. Then Ecclesiastes dumps cold water on our optimism.

People love stories from the brink. We’ve all heard testimonies from those who approached the brink through drug use, alcoholism, sex, greed, or violence. They reached the edge, saw emptiness, and turned back. Ecclesiastes feels like one of those stories. However, Ecclesiastes is not about reaching the brink of failure or addiction. The teacher plunges over the brink of success and finds an equally empty void of meaninglessness. 

“All is meaningless,” says the teacher. “Trust me. You think wealth will satisfy you? Doing what you love? A great job? Impressive accomplishments? Unlimited sex? Sorry, folks. I did it all and it’s all meaningless”

The word translated “meaningless” is difficult. Many Bible translations render it as “vanity.” It means something transitory or unsatisfactory. Its figurative meaning is like vapor or breath. Ecclesiastes clarifies, saying it is like “chasing after the wind.” Imagine grabbing a handful of smoke. The smell of it might still be on your hands and clothes, but there is nothing substantial there.

How can Solomon, the teacher of the book, say “all is meaningless”? Isn’t one of the strengths of our faith that it gives us meaning? Is Solomon jaded and dissatisfied? Did he misuse the unique wisdom God gave to him?

The teacher sees the world as it is, up close and to excess. Whether sex, wealth, or the wisdom (and foolish idolatry) of other cultures, Solomon drank deeply of it all. It was, at least partially, a lived-out experiment.

This experiment comes at a cost of grief. Humans bit the fruit in the garden because it was “useful for gaining knowledge.” (Genesis 3.6) Solomon takes a big bite of the world’s so-called knowledge, as do we all. 

It is uncomfortable to hear the success we long for is pointless, but it’s healthy. We can’t succeed our way to joy, pleasure ourselves into love, or spend our way into significance. Joy, love, and significance come to those who pursue the treasure of our gracious God, not the trophies of a ruthless world. (Matthew 13.44)

The wisdom of Proverbs and the wisdom of Ecclesiastes are not in conflict. Both call us to trust not in attaining success but in attuning our lives to God’s voice and our to actions his purpose.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. — Psalm 43.3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 2 (Listen 4:03)
Psalm 50 (Listen 2:26)

Read more about Solomon’s Folly
Most people seek to retest Solomon’s findings. “Sure, sure, wealth and pleasure are meaningless,” we say, “but let me try.”

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Our work depends on the continuous support of donors like you. Please consider financially supporting our ad-free biblical content.

More Wisdom, More Grief

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 1.18
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
     the more knowledge, the more grief.

Reflection: More Wisdom, More Grief
By Erin Newton

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 9.10). On the first steps of wisdom’s path, we learn about who God is and who we are. We begin to understand our faults and shortcomings paired with his unfailing mercy and grace. Our sins are laid bare, and we accept the free gift of grace from Jesus Christ.

We are made into a new creation, building upon the foundation blocks of wisdom. With eyes that now see the foolishness of our former lives, we begin to seek the Scriptures to learn more about who God is and who we are. Wisdom’s path leads us to discover our purpose in life and calling within the world.

Wisdom also reveals to us the complexity of the world. Our friends and neighbors are not merely companions or coworkers—we see them as image bearers of our God. The bonds of humanity tie our hearts with theirs. We learn to share their joys and bear their pains.

But “with much wisdom comes much sorrow.” We cannot now unsee the fallenness of creation. No longer can we look away when one human belittles another. No longer can we refuse to listen when someone cries out for help. No longer can we believe that one evil is lesser than another and somehow worthy of our admiration. We cannot pretend our actions have no negative consequences on the natural world.

Wisdom leads us to see the world as God sees it—filled with the potential of love, peace, and wholeness. However, the world is only a dim reflection of that ideal. Wisdom calls us to recognize where things have fallen short.

Just because we find wisdom does not mean we have found paradise. Our faith does not remove us from the realm of tragedy. Life, circumstantially, is not easier for a Christian than an unbeliever. Not only do we carry our own burdens, but we are aware of the needs of so many others. In this way, gaining knowledge has created increased grief.

But it is not without hope and not without a call to action. Wisdom begins with faith in God. The realities that bring us sorrow can be handled by an omnipotent God. 

Continue in wisdom. Welcome sorrow. The grief and sorrow brought by wisdom is a gift—a gift of awareness. Wisdom awakens us from the idleness of apathy.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
“Be still, then, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” — Psalm 46.11

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 1 (Listen 2:21)
Psalm 49 (Listen 2:10)

Read more about The Promise of Proverbs is Change
It is crucial to ask, “Are we becoming people of wickedness or righteousness?” What we become can change our world.

Read more about Proverbs’ House of Mirrors
Do our words rhyme with God’s? Or do they stink? Would we enjoy eating them?

Appetite for Distraction—Readers’ Choice

Readers’ Choice Month:
This September, The Park Forum is looking back on readers’ selections of our most meaningful and helpful devotionals from the past 12 months. Thank you for your readership. This month is all about hearing from you. Submit a Readers’ Choice post today.

Today’s post was originally published, on March 18, 2022, based on Ecclesiastes 6.9
It was selected by reader, Sam, Fort Worth: 
“Thank you for this. The truth that distraction comes before destruction is more true every day in our world that constantly encourages and fuels our roving appetites.”

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 6.9
9 Better what the eye sees 
than the roving of the appetite. 
This too is meaningless, 
a chasing after the wind.

Reflection: Appetite for Distraction—Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

Distraction has a meme. Of course it does.

The “Distracted Boyfriend” meme started out as a normal photoshoot. Photographer, Antonio Guillem, typically supplies images to iStock and other photo platforms. He set out one day in 2015 to take some images around the concept of infidelity using models he often collaborated with. They took many different images of the stages of a relationship slipping into infidelity but one image caught the imagination of the Internet. The male subject, walking with his girlfriend, looks back at another woman in a red dress. The man has an openly lustful gaze and the girlfriend an open-mouthed look of shock and disgust.

Creative people on the Internet started labeling the image to discuss distraction or abandoning one’s first love. By way of example, historically-minded meme creators made a series with the first image showing the man as Henry VIII, the woman in red as Anne Boleyn, and the offended girlfriend as Katherine of Aragorn. Successive images rotated the women through the cycle with Anne Boleyn being the girlfriend and Jane Seymore being the woman in red, then continuing through with Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Katherine Parr.

But the meme was rarely about sexual infidelity. Most of the time the people were labeled not as people but as things. A popular version labels the woman in the red dress as “new project” and the offended girlfriend as “all my unfinished projects.”

This meme struck a chord because we all recognize something universal within ourselves. We long for more. This makes us susceptible to temptation, distraction, dissatisfaction, and infidelity. Our eyes lead us astray when our hearts are not settled.

The teacher of Ecclesiastes knows something about distraction and temptation. He purposely tested himself in every area imaginable. The conclusion is that being satisfied with “what the eye sees” is better than having a “roving appetite.”

Our roving appetites, whether for sex, money, or power, will lead us to distraction before destruction. We need to have a settled eye, looking upon things that have true value, not upon the distractions of this world. With our eyes on the treasure in the field, we won’t invest in wickedness. With our eyes on the pearl of great price, no costume jewelry will suffice. With our eyes fixed on Jesus, we can let the world be offended that we would disdain its affections.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
To you I lift up my eyes, to you enthroned in the heavens.
As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, and the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he shows us his mercy. — Psalm 123.1-3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 39(Listen 3:11)
1 Corinthians 15 (Listen 1- 8:06)

Read more

Read more about Wisdom in Houses of Mourning
We limited Jesus, the Bible, and prayer, to “when we have time” as if time was the issue and not our heart.

Readers’ Choice is Here!
There’s still room for your favorite post from the last 12 months. Tell us about it and we will repost it in September.

Meaning in Remembrance

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 12.6-8
6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, 
and the golden bowl is broken; 
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, 
and the wheel broken at the well, 
7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, 
and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 
8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. j 
“Everything is meaningless!” 

Reflection: Meaning in Remembrance
By John Tillman

After many failures on a new kind of electric battery, an associate of Thomas Edison expressed dismay at having no results for their labor. Edison shot back, “We have plenty of results. We know several thousand things that won’t work.” Edison is known to have expressed similar sentiments throughout his career.

Ecclesiastes, in a way, is a journal of failed moral experiments and reads as if it was written over a long period, perhaps a lifetime. It begins, not with idealism but with a jaded, youthful cynicism. The teacher sets out, armed with wisdom, to solve the meaninglessness he sees. He makes himself both moral scientist and test subject. (Ecclesiastes 2.1)

In his experiments, the teacher of Ecclesiastes, like Edison, finds several thousand things that won’t work. Here at the end, we find the teacher still struggling with the problem he set out to solve. He never comes to a conclusion that fully satisfies him, however, there is a spark of light: “Remember your creator,” he says. “Remember your creator.”

Remembering is not just the recall of facts. Remembering is powerful. God often commanded the people to “remember.” Remembering can be an experience in which all the emotions, and even senses and sensations, participate. Passover was one of those times when remembering involved all the senses. The point was not for Israel to remember the facts of what God did, but to remember God’s identity and their own.

At the last Passover Jesus observed, he reoriented the meal around himself, saying, “do this in remembrance of me.” Then on the cross, a few hours later, the thief asked Jesus to “remember” him.

The light bulb moment of Ecclesiastes never quite comes, but the spark of hope lies in doing what God has already commanded us to do—remember him. 

The aged teacher’s exquisite closing poem pays poignant tribute to the realities of life and death and the importance of remembering God in youth, not just in old age. 

Remembering is a lifelong task and not merely a mental exercise. If we are to remember as Jesus commands, our remembrances must be both acts of testimony and demonstration. How do our remembrances testify and demonstrate God’s identity and our identity in him?

Let us remember Jesus. Remember him to ourselves. Remember him to our family and friends. Remember him to our community.

In this remembrance we find meaning.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
My mouth shall recount your mighty acts and saving deeds all day long; though I cannot know the number of them. — Psalm 71.15

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 12 (Listen – 2:38)
Psalm 119:1-24 (Listen – 15:14)

Read more about Over the Brink of Success
It is uncomfortable to hear the success we long for is pointless, but it’s healthy.

Read more about Forward-Looking Remembering
Remembering is not “living in the past” or “longing for the good ole days,” instead it informs our hope for a future that God has for us.