12I turned to see worldly-wisdom, and madness-and-idiocy.
Because what will the person do who comes after the king?
That which people have already done.
13I myself saw that
There is profit for worldly-wisdom over idiocy,
like the profit of light over darkness.
14The worldly-wise person – their eyes are in their head,
but the fool walks in darkness.
But I myself also acknowledged
that one experience happens to both of them.
15So I said in my heart:
like the experience of the fool,
so it will happen to me, too.
So why have I then been exceedingly worldly-wise?
I spoke in my heart:
‘this is mere breath too’.
16Because there’s no remembrance of the worldly-wise person,
or fools
in the days to come
because already
they have been forgotten.
But how can the worldly-wise person die just like the fool?
17So I hated life,
because the action that occurs
under the sun is bad to me,
because everything is mere-breath,
a chasing of wind.
Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.
St Columba