Welcome to the Blue Ocean Advent devotional podcast. This is day fourteen. I’m Emily, and I’ll be your guide.
Let’s start with a moment of gratitude. I’ll give you 15 seconds of silence to think about something you’re thankful for, and to thank God for it. Let’s begin now.
[15 seconds of silence]
Now we’ll move on to our petitionary prayer. Today we’ll pray that God’s peace will rest in our own bodies and minds. Let’s take 25 seconds of silence to pray.
[25 seconds of silence]
Our Scripture reading today comes from Ecclesiastes 2:12–16. It begins:
Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done? I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. 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.” 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!
The author of Ecclesiastics wrestles with why we should seek wisdom and goodness, when it seems that wickedness and foolishness sometimes work for people … and in the end, we all pass away. Both Judaism and Christianity have more developed thought on what happens after we die, but there is a stream in this book of the Bible that despairs of there being nothing more. I think this verse can help us pray when we’re in a place of frustration—of feeling like people who do bad things get ahead, so what’s the point of trying to be kind, generous, and loving?
We’ll close today by meditating on the phrase:
The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.
Take a few moments now to pray that frustration, if it’s helpful to you. Or meditate on the thought to try and understand the frustrations of those who might feel that way. The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.
Our Concluding Prayer:
Creator, almighty and everlasting, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus my Lord. Amen
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