For many, power is the road to personal glory and the ability to impose one's will on others. Perhaps the apostles are not completely free of this misunderstanding. They are waiting for Jesus to perform mighty deeds in Jerusalem and drive the hated Romans from their land. Peter correctly recognizes Jesus as the Messiah of God, but Jesus surprises all of them by giving a completely new definition to the word. Power means service. Power means weakness. Power means suffering. Power means trust in God. Power means love. This kind of power comes from another source, and it is not immediately recognized by the world. But power it is, and no force can withstand it. The more we love and serve the needs of humanity, the more we are empowered.

The moving words from Ecclesiastes speak to us of the experience of human life, those things that we view as positive and negative. It is difficult to judge the worth of anyone's life. Lives filled with suffering and failure may in fact be very rich lives, while so-called successful lives may be poor indeed in many respects. No-one is guaranteed an easy or uneventful life, but we are promised that in some way every experience can lead us to God, and every life is precious in God's eyes. Let us not judge or complain, or cling to those things that are pleasant. Rather, let us meet every experience with loving trust in God's kind Providence.