One of the earliest video games was Pac-Man. To play, you would use a controller to navigate a yellow, pie- shaped character through a maze while eating dots and fruit. The goal, of course, was for Pac-Man, and later Ms. Pac-Man, to avoid being eaten by the ghosts. Don’t slow down or you will be eaten and lose the game!

In Ecclesiastes 6:7–12, the Teacher calls us to slow down. He transitions into a long section of proverbs, or short sayings, that continue into chapters 8, 10, and 11, before closing out with the famous poem on death and dying and his final word on what it means to be a human: living in right relationship with our Maker.

These proverbs can feel like puz- zles, and their meaning is not always obvious upon first reading. That’s by design! So, let’s answer the Teacher’s call to think deeply and meditate on Scripture. In our fast-paced world, it can seem countercultural to slow down our rapid-achievement pace and absorb these truths.

Let’s consider today’s verse: “Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied” (v. 7). What does the Teacher mean? The obvious answer is that humans can be a lot like Pac-Man. We work so we can eat, and then we get hungry again. But let’s consider this proverb a bit more. He uses the negative word “toil” when he could have used the more neutral word “work.” What’s more, “appetite” in Hebrew is nephesh, which also means something like one’s “being” or “life.” Why use that term? What does he mean by “satisfied”? And what else does the Teacher say isn’t satisfied in his book? Is he saying that we can bea bit like Pac-Man, moving endlessly through a maze?

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