I’m a former swimmer. I should care a lot about pools. But on November 3rd, 2026, pools were the least of my concerns. I have been in a 6-month job hunt. Groceries, gas, and medications have gone up. There are ongoing wars, where many have died and countless others have suffered economic disasters. But the President of the United States, in his closing message to voters, touted the reflecting pool.
“Unprecedented vandalism.” Now, it is better than ever before. If only that were a helpful analogy of the state of the nation. But in some ways, it is. If we accept the biblical Qoheleth’s argument, “all is hebel,” sometimes translated vanity, then, as he also says, this too is hebel. It is vanity.
I don’t want to see pictures of pipes. I don’t wanna see Pool Renovation Episode 1776. What I, and most Americans, want to see is pictures of grocery bills not costing half a paycheck. An unnecessary war coming to a necessary end. Not before and after pictures of pools.
And so today, I am doing something I ordinarily wouldn’t do. I am giving hebel, the focus of my research, a translation. Just for this post. Let’s accept the most popular translation: “vanity” for a few moments.
The Royal Autobiography Speaks… With Restraint
If Trump could think of anyone besides himself for one day, I feel he might find a lot of value in Ecclesiastes. If he could stop reading everything through his “I’m perfect” lens, which is completely impossible. But I feel he would especially resonate with the author if so.
The author begins Ecclesiastes 2 with his quest for the meaning of life. He seeks out wisdom, wine, folly, and what is good for mortals. He made great works, built houses, planted gardens and vineyards and parks, with all kinds of trees. Oh, he even made pools (2:1–6).
He establishes himself as a king in Jerusalem, though scholarship largely refutes this. He says that he “became great and surpassed all who were before me.” Sound familiar? Mr. Best President Ever?
At first, it sounds so MUCH like Trump. But then he has a moment of humble honesty. And he admits:
“Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun” (2:11 NRSVue).
You will not find anything echoing this sentiment on the President’s X or Truth Social accounts. Trust me, I’ve tried. But there is no honesty. There is no admission of shortcomings.
Just everything being the best it ever was because he touched it. Billions and billions and billions. Nothing like it. Nobody knows more about [fill in the blank] than him. And when he’s caught in a lie, what does he do?
Quiet, piggy.
Vanity, Vanity… What Does it Mean?
As a child, I really struggled to understand the word “vanity.” I vaguely remember a Vacation Bible School sermon on vanity and Superman… at a Southern Baptist Church, of course. Perhaps because I didn’t care for superheroes, maybe I just couldn’t understand this term.
It’s a loaded word. It can mean numerous things. Don’t believe me? I have 17 posts and a full master’s thesis on the Hebrew word hebel. So, I accept that providing an all-encompassing definition is not possible in a post. Or 17+ of them.
Vanity is when you lead a country in crisis, and instead of addressing rising costs resulting from your own policies, you spend 20 minutes discussing a pool. It’s when you insist an election was stolen for 6 years just because you didn’t win. It’s when your hair, toupee, whatever that dollop of grossness is called looks like suffering and bigotry. Simply put, it is covering up your inner demons and insecurities with outward looks.
But those examples are all still politically charged, as they are my own. More simply, according to the all-powerful Dictionary.com,
“excessive pride in one’s appearance, qualities, abilities, achievements, etc.; character or quality of being vain; conceit.”
Vain or excessive pride. And yet, that which is vanity lacks any real value. It is hollow. It is, as hebel literally means, mist, fog, or smoke. Thus, it is worthless or trivial. Absurd. Meaningless.
But in the modern sense, it is a particular obsession with looks. For instance, a vanity case. A portable container for transporting cosmetics, skin care products, beauty tools, etc. Hell, it can even mean a cabinet below a bathroom sink, hiding exposed pipes.
Well, the Donald clearly has no fear in exposing pipes. But that is because it is what nobody is asking for, except his business allies. The real questions are hard to answer… truthfully. When is the war ending? How many times has our leader affirmed, “we won”? Yet the war continues.
And while civilians and soldiers are dying for a needless war, as prices are through the roof, and as people prepared to hit the polls… we got to see home renovations.
After an uncharacteristic election evening of silence on social media, Trump finally posted: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!” After nearly 30 campaign stops encouraging attendees to vote like you were? Walked right into that one.
“House of Satan”
In portraying Michigan Democratic senate nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed as affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, Trump suggested his ballot signatures referred to the U.S. as the “house of Satan.” Of course, everything is dualistic. So, Trump says, “We call the United States the house of God. They call it the house of Satan.”
I struggle with this image. I’m not going to even dare suggest that America is pure evil, nor will I believe it to be the flawless nation Mr. Trump wants it to be. But I also struggle because of my own understanding of Satan as an evolving character.
Initially, in the book of Job, the satan is a member of God’s heavenly council. His name, ha-satan, most likely means “the accuser.” But, as I mentioned many months ago, this character has not always existed in one manifestation.
From God’s council, to testing God’s Son, to an intergalactic monster. Not all monsters are as obvious as Revelation’s dragon. Some function as instruments of God’s will.
And some pretend to. Trump and his insecure manchild leading the military, Pete Hegseth, have tried to ground the unnecessary Iran War in Christian nationalist messaging. Trump suggests God approves of U.S. actions because “God is good.” Hegseth has forced his religion upon the nonreligious U.S. military constantly. He framed the war as a crusade. He even launched a “Send Me Tour,” quoting Isaiah to frame military action through a religious lens.
“Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” Iranians are not demons. Muslims are not sorcerers of darkness. Even when God’s Son was arrested to be put on ancient death row, He told the vengeful Peter, “Put your sword back in its place.” I do not see how, by any standard, this war can be justified biblically.
The “House of Satan” doesn’t always look obvious. Even some Christians will tell you, “Satan is actually beautiful, not a goatman with a pitchfork.” That’s how he deceives, in their view. In my view, sometimes he identifies as an agent of God. Sometimes, we might even confuse him with someone working for God.
“We’re Winning”… By Losing
Nobody in America is winning right now. Nothing is “great again.” That’s what was on the voters’ minds. The president posts endlessly about how strong the economy is. How secure the border is. How low crime is. But yet, Americans see the truth.
It’s nothing “fake news” is promoting. People are dead because of one man’s decision to launch an unlawful war. “Affordability” is not a made-up word. People are getting that “news” not from the news. They get it from their receipts. From the gas station signs. From the often-incorrect grocery price tags.
Incorrect because they can’t keep up. The economy has nosedived. The job market has done a complete nosedive. Why did the election end the way it did? Because people had enough. People like me, who are not extremists in either direction.
Personal Reflection
I was raised in a MAGA home. In 2016, then ineligible to vote, I was a devout fan of Donald Trump’s. Ten years later, I’ll admit it. COVID-19 changed that. The January 6 tragedy solidified it.
Thankfully, I never voted for him. But I’ll never forget that I once wanted him to be president. Before Trump, though, I was religiously conservative. I grew up during George W. Bush’s presidency. Much of my homeschool curriculum was from the 80s. And highly evangelical.
Conservatism meant the world to me, until I studied political science. And even more so when I studied the Bible. Not because I identified Jesus as a hippie (I do not). Because I recognized the significance of suffering.
Suffering has compelled people to write the greatest works in human history. To make the greatest films, like Schindler’s List. To paint great works and draw great drawings. And as cheesy as it definitely sounds, it has determined how people vote.
I’m a proud independent. I’ve voted Republican. I’ve voted libertarian. And this cycle, much to the shock of my younger self, I voted Democratic down the ballot. The beauty of democracy is that it does allow mandates. And it did what it needed to do in 2026.
It affirmed that everything we’ve seen for the last 2 years is vanity. Like the wind, the mist, the smoke. Empty, futile, meaningless. And above all else, hebel.