In this Thursday reflection on Ecclesiastes 7:15–29, the Teacher's closing observation — God made human beings straightforward, but they have devised many schemes — frames the whole passage as a meditation on wisdom and its limits. The Teacher says it's good to take hold of wisdom without letting go of the acknowledgment that you might be wrong, and the reflection develops that into a pastoral word about the relationship between conviction and humility. Drawing on Dr. Harold Bryson's memorable line — show me a man who thinks he's wrong — and the calculus principle that the right work built on a wrong assumption still produces the wrong answer, the reflection argues that humility isn't weakness but a commitment to staying teachable. We should believe what we believe with conviction. But we should hold that conviction with enough openness to keep growing, keep learning, and keep giving the Spirit room to correct us. The Teacher keeps bumping into his own imperfection throughout Ecclesiastes, and that's actually a healthy place to live — because if you don't think you need to grow, you won't.

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