But One Bungler
AM Psalm 72 • PM Psalm 119:73-96
Eccles. 9:11-18 • Gal. 5:1-15 • Matt. 16:1-12
Often when I look over my assignment to write a Morning Reflection, I am extra thankful that the Holy Spirit gives me a long learning curve. Many times I reread a passage and hear it in a new and different way than before. It can be days, months, years between readings and still there will be some new light in the meaning that I hadn’t seen before. Today’s reading from Ecclesiastes is like that.
We’re not given the details of how the poor man’s wisdom saved the city. Perhaps he did it without anyone realizing he was responsible; maybe the people listened to him briefly and then once things got back to normal, they forgot him. However it happened, the author’s point seems to be that even wisdom doesn’t guarantee respect or fame. Wisdom is always better than violence but even when wisdom prevails, it can be negated by a single person. Whether it is a best-laid plan or a fragile peace, a foolish sinner with thoughtless action can collapse a city; one treacherous actor can wreak havoc and bring devastation to a nation.
18 ...but one bungler destroys much good.
It only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch. (Do they still tell kids that in grade school?). That used to mean that a rotting apple spread and affected the other apples in the barrel, a metaphor meaning even one can taint the group. In our time, we don’t have to worry too much about rotting apples at the grocery store so you would think the saying would have faded out of usage. But instead the meaning has changed — it has flipped to mean the opposite. (An NPR opinion piece places the critical historical flipping point in 1970 with the Osmond’s #1 hit One Bad Apple Don’t Spoil the Whole Bunch, Girl.) Now most people use it to mean that someone’s unethical behavior or criminal misconduct is an isolated incident — a couple of rogue cops, two or three fringe soldiers. There’s always going to be a few bad apples.
Interestingly, the proverb with its flipped meaning is much more popular than it used to be with its original semantic. Now it is effective at shutting down a discussion when a group feels threatened and is on the defensive — one or two bad cops doesn’t mean the whole department is corrupt. Instead of meaningful discussion, reflection and dialogue are shut down with a folksy saying.
Our reading today from Ecclesiastes isn’t the most comforting or understandable. But we are reminded of the goodness and limits of wisdom, and that wisdom is always better than might.
Written by Bernadette Reda
Committed to life-long learning, seeking the Divine in herself and others, and figuring out how to tell a joke without laughing before the punchline.