If you read my column on the Faith Page of the Albert Lea Tribune on Friday, you may have thought I have either lost my marbles or become a heretic. I think it important to set the record straight.

Someone at the Tribune inserted the name Jesus into the seventh paragraph of my column, Across the Pastor’s Desk. I was speaking of the writer of Ecclesiastes, whom I referred to in the previous two paragraphs. I was not speaking of Jesus by any means. Inserting the name Jesus not only made the statement false and incomprehensible, it made it heretical. At no time did Jesus ever engage in pleasure seeking in an attempt to find satisfaction in life, nor did Jesus ever deviate from total obedience and commitment to the will of God.

The paragraph I submitted to the Tribune followed my reference to the writer of Ecclesiastes and read: “Some pleasures the Teacher, as he was known, engaged in were tamer by far than many today …”

The pronoun he is in reference to the writer of Ecclesiastes, not to Jesus. The writer of Ecclesiastes talks openly about having tried to find satisfaction in life through indulging in pleasure, only to find nothing he tried satisfied. He concludes at the end of his book that true satisfaction comes only through knowing God and living a godly life. Jesus knew that all along and never experimented with whether it was so. I will be more careful in my use of pronouns in the future.

 

Nancy Overgaard

Albert Lea