- The toil of a fool wearies him,
for he does not know the way to the city. -
There is a strange dichotomy in regard to being a fool. You may have already noticed this in my previous posts.
You do not want to be a fool. You are already a fool.
Why do I know you are a fool? Because all men are fools in some area of their life. You simply cannot know everything.
Imagine an electrician scoffing at a brain surgeon. It has happened before, and it will happen again.
It is good to know you are a fool. Why? Who has something to learn? Only someone who knows they do not know can gain knowledge.
We’ve identified the conundrum. Everyone wishes to be wise and to not act like a fool, yet everyman is forever and perpetually a fool.
Then how do we ever come to recognize some men and women as wise?
I’ve said this before, but part of being wise is that you know this truth. By acknowledging your foolishness, you already begin to move yourself towards wisdom, an unreachable goal.
The fool in this story, and like many of the fools mentioned by Solomon, is one who does not realize he is a fool.
It’s strange to say his toil wearies him. Doesn’t any labor weary the body? How could it be any other way for the wise?
Have you ever engaged in nonproductive labor? Perhaps you were asked to do a task at work that had no utility, simply filling out forms.
Probably performing that task bothered you. Why? Because it was a waste of the work itself. Not only did you lose time, but you spent effort for no gain.
The fool does this to himself in his own labor because he does not know its purpose. He works and not only tires his body but doesn’t achieve anything with it.
How could this happen? Perhaps he is engaged in a trade that he is bad at yet refuses to admit so to himself.
Maybe he lacks knowledge and creates a product that cannot be sold because it is not high enough quality. Perhaps he is too lazy.
His labor doesn’t matter. It is just as useful as if he didn’t do it at all. The second half of the verse helps us see this idea more clearly.
How is that the fool cannot find his way to the city? It doesn’t make any sense. Does he have a house but simply winds up sleeping in the street?
He has to be able to find the city. Our verse means something a little more abstract.
The metaphor means something akin to this, he cannot navigate his way through the city’s governmental, economical, or legal intricacies.
What do I mean? It’s not a matter of finding a place, it’s a matter of knowing what price to sell at, what licenses he needs, and what taxes he has to pay.
Even while being in the city, it’s like he isn’t even there, and his inability to make sense of it leaves him with no benefit from his work.
It’s sad when we see people like this; people who blame laws and competitors for their lack of success when we all struggle underneath the same rules.
What is the lesson for us? We could say it is don’t act like a fool. We could even say it is to know you are a fool.
The best lesson?
Don’t be so foolish you cannot learn.
Ecclesiastes 10:15