12 November 2026

In Ecclesiastes, the Preacher has two important insights to offer us. The first is moderation. ‘Do not be too righteous and do not act too wise.’ he says. Moderation in all  things. ‘Do not be too wicked and do not be a fool.’ There’s need for balance.

Afterall, ‘There is not a  righteous person on earth who does good and never sins.’ We are all human. Let our common humanity temper all our prejudices and follies as well as our political and military aspirations.

The second is co-operation. ‘Look, the tears of the oppressed with no-one to comfort them.’ says the Preacher. The world is divided and the root cause ‘one person’s envy of another’.

The Preacher counsels co-operation rather than competition. ‘Two are better than one,’ he says, ‘because they have a good regard for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other …’

But now the small step along the road to nuclear disarmament which was taken between the Russians and the Americans in 2009 is under threat since it expired in February. Our common humanity, celebrated in a childhood truth  that two are better than one,  is defaced!