T.M. Moore
T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore
Patient Plodding
Ecclesiastes 7.8-10
8The end of a thing is better than its beginning;
The patient in spirit isbetter than the proud in spirit.
9Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10Do not say,
“Why were the former days better than these?”
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.
The Rebuke of the Wise
Ecclesiastes 7.5-7
5It isbetter for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6For like the crackling of thorns under a pot,
So isthe laughter of the fool;
This also is vanity.
7Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason,
And a bribe debases the heart.
The Measure of a Wise Heart
Ecclesiastes 7.2-4
2Better to go to the house of mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that isthe end of all men;
And the living will take itto heart.
3Sorrow isbetter than laughter,
For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.
4The heart of the wise isin the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools isin the house of mirth.
A Good Name
Ecclesiastes 7.1
1A good name isbetter than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s birth…
Worthless Words
Ecclesiastes 6.11, 12
11Since there are many things that increase vanity,
How is man the better?
12For who knows what isgood for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?
Strength beyond Man’s Strength
Ecclesiastes 6.10
10Whatever one is, he has been named already,
For it is known the he is man;
And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
The Impossibility of Contentment
Ecclesiastes 6.9
9Better isthe sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire.
This also isvanity and grasping for the wind.
Misguided Appetites
Ecclesiastes 6.7, 8
7All the labor of man isfor his mouth,
And yet the soul is not satisfied.
8For what more has the wise manthan the fool?
What does the poor man have,
Who knows howto walk before the living?
More to Life than Living
Ecclesiastes 6.4-6
4– for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered in darkness. 5Though it has not yet seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest rather than that man, 6even if he lives a thousand years twice – but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place?
Better Off Never Having Lived
Ecclesiastes 6.3
3If a man begets a hundred childrenand lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, and indeed he has no burial, I say thata stillborn child isbetter than he…
All for Nothing
Ecclesiastes 6.1, 2
1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This isvanity; it isan evil affliction.