Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 10.20
20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, 
or curse the rich in your bedroom, 
because a bird in the sky may carry your words, 
and a bird on the wing may report what you say. 

Reflection: Absurd Little Bird
By John Tillman

Who needs spying birds when digital devices are listening? In modern life, this proverb might say, “Don’t discuss appliances near Alexa or your entire Facebook feed will be filled with Samsung ads.”

The idea of spying birds is ancient. Most ancient versions are inspired by Ecclesiastes. The idea is so prevalent in culture that a faux-conspiracy group based on this was created. “Birds Aren’t Real” is a parody of conspiracy theory groups such as Qanon. It claims that birds are CIA spy drones.

It started in 2017, when Peter McIndoe was struck by the absurdity of conspiratorial nonsense spouted by opposing political protestors. The slogan he created as a spontaneous joke became a movement. Many people, particularly Gen Z adults, played along, staging real protests for a fake cause. Why?

An additional way to translate the teacher’s frequent refrain “all is meaningless” might be to say “all is absurd.” The teacher explored wisdom, foolishness, and madness. The absurdities of life can be troubling, especially when leaders, friends, and family seem to be in their grip. What benefit is wisdom when so many are willing to follow foolishness like that which inspired “Birds Aren’t Real?”

Many Birds Aren’t Real participants acted out of frustration with friends and family captivated by Qanon and other absurd conspiracy theories. Poking fun at these conspiracies with their own fake conspiracy helped them “laugh at the madness, rather than be overcome by it.”

Birds are real and they don’t inform on people. Ecclesiastes’ practical advice isn’t meant to be interpreted literally. The proverb is not warning us against government or corporate spying. The proverb also does not mean to avoid criticizing leaders, even though abusive leaders attempt to imply this. If criticizing the king was a sin we’d have to throw out most biblical prophets.

The proverb does carry many truths. Powerful people will always use information (or misinformation) to their benefit—for oppression or selling appliances. Words spoken in private will often be shouted from the rooftop. (Luke 12.3) We need to be people of integrity, speaking public truth rather than private slander.

Confronting lies is a necessity amidst the absurdity of modern debate. Our concern should not be our fate when leaders hear the truth, but our community’s fate if leaders deny the truth.

However we stand for the truth, whether by sermon or satire, let us do so with integrity.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Small Verse
The people who dwelt in darkness have seen a great light.

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

Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 10 (Listen – 2:33)
Psalm 116 (Listen – 1:34)

Read more about Facts and Harsh Realities
The Bible acknowledges these harsh realities side-by-side with aspirational faith that justice will be done.

Read more about The Commission of Truth
Leviticus 5.1 identifies a unique kind of sin—the sin of not testifying to the truth when it is called for.

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 9.13-18
13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. 
17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded 
than the shouts of a ruler of fools. 
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, 
but one sinner destroys much good. 

Reflection: The Unknown Sage
By John Tillman

Who was this nameless poor man who saved his city from military aggression? What did he do? How did it save the city? We don’t know. That’s the point the teacher is trying to make. Wisdom is not always recognized or celebrated unless it comes from people we already think of as wise and worthy of respect.

The poor were then and are now considered by many to be unreliable, lazy, morally questionable. Even today, many people doubt the poor when they tell us about their own experiences. “Don’t give them money. They can’t be trusted.” Perhaps the better question we should ask is, who was the person in power who listened to the wisdom of the poor man? And how was he forgotten after wisdom he shared, saved the city?

We often distrust the word of “nobodies.” When a recommendation, a critique, or an accusation is spoken we often say, “Who is this?” Buried in that question are assumptions. We distrust people based on status. We are suspicious of critiques from those “below” us who we suspect have inferior understanding. Positional distrust can cut across many categories such as authority, status, wealth, age, race, gender, or denominational or political affiliation. “Her word isn’t trustworthy. She’s _________.” “Don’t listen to him. He’s _________.” It can cause us to read wisdom and call it foolishness. It can cause us to hear a blustering fool and call him wise.

The teacher describes the king of the city as blustering and shouting and says fools followed him. In contrast, the wise words of the poor man were quiet. Whatever weapons were bested by the poor man’s wisdom, they weren’t bested by force, volume, or vicious rhetoric. We would do well to retune our ears to listen for such quiet, yet powerful words.

Many places in our world are under siege—some literally, some metaphorically. Violent voices of brash, blustering, chest-beating, powerful leaders of our world shout out plans, war strategies, and lies.

May we listen to the lowly voices God chooses to send to us, speaking wisdom.
May we ask the Holy Spirit to give us ears to hear quiet wisdom that can silence weapons of war.
May we honor those who speak God’s quiet wisdom, both now and in the future.
May quiet wisdom be remembered long after the siege ramps of the violent are crumbling in dust.

*On March 25th, nine months before Christmas day, the church celebrates the lowly voice of Mary after hearing Gabriel’s announcement. We read her words as our prayer today.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant… — Luke 1.46-48

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

Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 9 (Listen – 3:13)
Psalm 114-115 (Listen – 2:18)

Read more about Servants in the Age of Showboats
We live in an age where the proud, unethical, immoral showboat leader is honored and glorified.

Read more about In The Face of Wonder
The freedom the world seeks is freedom to dominate, dictate, and destroy…May we seek instead the freedom to serve, to create, and to restore.

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
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: A Reading
Jesus taught the people, saying: “Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of the world is to be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all people to myself.” — John 12.31-32

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

Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 6 (Listen – 1:44)
Psalm 108-109 (Listen – 3:08)

This Weekend’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 7 (Listen – 3:37) Psalm 110-111 (Listen – 1:57)
Ecclesiastes 8 (Listen – 2:41) Psalm 112-113 (Listen – 1:49)

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.

Read more about Our Opportunistic Opponent 
It is unwise to make too much of Satan…It is unwise to make too little of Satan.

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 5.8-10
8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields. 
10 Whoever loves money never has enough; 
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. 
This too is meaningless.

From John: As this re-written post from 2018 reminds us, we should never be surprised to find oppression, cruelty, poverty, or any other evil in the world. We also should never willingly be complicit in it or passively give approval to it.

Reflection: Unsurprising Oppression
By John Tillman

Solomon, the teacher of Ecclesiastes, says, “do not be surprised” to see oppression of the poor and systemic corruption in the government. Jesus, the teacher of Galilee, says the poor will always be with us. (Matthew 26.11) Either of them would be shocked to find their words abused today as endorsements of a laissez-faire attitude toward poverty and oppression.

Rather than an endorsement, Solomon’s statement is a confession of complicity. The profit of the corrupt system, and the guilt for it, passes up the chain of authority and distributes itself throughout the entire economic system to every citizen. The king himself profits from the fields and Solomon calls this profit, “meaningless.”

Christ’s words, often misquoted by politicians looking to cut social spending, reference an Old Testament passage everyone in the room would have instantly recognized. (Deuteronomy 15.11) The other half of the verse is, “Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”

This passage comes from the abandoned economic practices of Jubilee. (Deuteronomy 15.1-11) Under this system, debts (regardless of their origins or the wisdom of the debtors) were to be forgiven every seven years, including a complete reset of property rights once in a generation. (Leviticus 25.10-17)

There is little biblical evidence that the system was ever followed as God prescribed it. If it had been followed generational poverty would be impossible. However, the pull of meaningless profit and gain for gain’s sake was too strong for ancient Israel and is too strong for us today.

As the teacher says:
Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.

The meaninglessness of accumulating wealth is a universal symptom of our sinful condition. We are all affected by it, from the top economic strata to the bottom.

The Bible doesn’t exist to dictate an economic system. Neither Capitalism nor Marxism are on trial. Our hearts are. The Bible commands us to be generous not just with tangible resources, but by influencing the way our culture thinks about poverty. Instead of condemning and blaming the poor for their own oppression, may we speak words of truth and comfort backed up with tangible aid.

Poverty and corruption will always exist, but that doesn’t mean we are free to be complicit, complacent, or callous about it.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for my hope has been in you. — Psalm 25.20

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

Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 5 (Listen – 2:50) 
Psalm 107 (Listen – 4:12)

Read more about Stories of the Redeemed
What is your story of redemption? Tell it to someone who needs a turnaround.

Read more about Blood Spilled
We need the Holy Spirit to confront us with the enormity of injustice around us and to stop saying, “I am innocent. I have not sinned.”

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 4.2-3
2 And I declared that the dead,
    who had already died,
are happier than the living,
    who are still alive.
3 But better than both
    is the one who has never been born,
who has not seen the evil
    that is done under the sun.

Reflection: Existential Dread
By Erin Newton

Something I have learned in counseling was the advice to let people express themselves without correction. Suffering leads us to heavy emotions with thoughts that are far from optimistic. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes sees suffering and declares that it is better for those who are not alive. This response feels out of place in a faith which declares the preciousness of life.
Ecclesiastes reveals the temporal nature of pleasure, possessions, wisdom, and life itself. Everything is futile. The mature Teacher is attempting to help others navigate the transitory nature of human existence. In the face of oppression without comfort, the truth is that only the dead avoid such pain.

Is it wrong to look at life this way? Is the Teacher promoting hopeless, meaningless existence? In the following chapters, the Teacher will point back toward enjoying life centered on God.

Our faith in God does not remove these moments of existential dread. Sometimes we feel the need to put on an air of optimism in bad circumstances. It can be tempting to hide our emotions even in our prayers. However, pain needs to be voiced. Understanding that pain exists in the world of the living is not an unfaithful observation.

The Bible gives us examples of people who have faced this type of despair. Elijah felt the pain of suffering without comfort. He sat under a tree and hoped he could die (1 Kings 19). But God was not finished with the prophet. Similar to what the prophet learned, the book of Ecclesiastes does not end with a defeatist attitude. Wisdom leads us to God.

Through Paul’s words, we see the release from suffering through death but also the value of fulfilling God’s purpose through living.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith… (Philippians 1.21-25)

Existential dread is answered in a life with God. 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Let us make a vow to the Lord our God and keep it; let all around him bring gifts to him who is worthy to be feared. — Psalm 76.11 

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

Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 4 (Listen – 2:18) 
Psalm 106 (Listen – 4:52)

Read more about What to Expect When Suffering
When in suffering, we can at times be surprised by the emotions that are stirred. We can encounter deep sadness, anguish, and even rage.

Read more about Helping Fathers and the Fatherless
May we…introduce…a definition and example of fatherhood that is based on the love that God has shown us.