Today's verse comes from a book filled with skeptical ideas about any absolute values in this life.* The apparent message of Ecclesiastes, if we only read part of it, is difficult to reconcile with other books of the Old Testament. If however, we read the final six verses, the Epilogue, we gain the writer's true perspective and the balancing message to the book's overall tone.
Believed to have been written at a time when the Jewish people were oppressed, the book expresses their sense of futility, powerlessness, and distance from God. Yet, when all is said and done, even at such times, we are told to fear God and keep his commandments.
Fear of God has lost much of its meaning in our culture. To keep an attitude of respect toward God, to hold him in highest esteem, to humble ourselves, to recognize him as our final judge, these things reflect the fear of God that we are all wise to seek.
Today, I will fear God and consider my own attitude toward him and others throughout the day.
Saint Gregory the Great, patron of teachers, pray for us.
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