Qohelet and the gospel

Peter J. Leithart, January 02, 2006

Provan has this insightful comment: "A central theme of [Jesus'] ministry, enacted in his own life, is that the proper way in which to respond to the nature of reality is to give away one's life rather than hold on to it, to open our hands and let things go rather than to close our fist around them, grasp hold of them, and try to use them for personal advantage."

Not: Go with the flow. But: Go with the vapor. You can't hold what you've got anyway, so beat the vapor to the punch and let it go before it slips away. As Augustine knew, life one of those goods that can be possessed only when we are dispossessed.

Solomon implies the world is built to require us to live by faith; he also implies that the world is constructed to encourage us to live by gift, self-gift. Chesterton knew this: Whoever clings to life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life shall find it, Chesterton said, is not some bit of paradoxical mysticism, but purest common sense. It's the way the world works.