The risk of living

It is said that the Russian philosopher Fedorov, in his last years as a librarian in Moscow, gave each visitor not the book he asked for, but the one he thought he was ready to read. It seems bizarre, but those who love to read know that books have a soul and sometimes from the shelves they claim to be read with the silent language of attraction.
So the Jesuit Pino Stancari's book on the Qoheleth jumped into my hand.

Right now, right in the middle of the pandemic. Time and chance reach everyone ... man is surprised by the sudden fate that falls upon him, says Qoheleth (Qo 9: 11-12). Our human condition is exposed to incredible risks, events precipitate irreparably. As hard as I try to stay afloat, I am swept into a vortex and find myself in an unexpected situation, which shows me how fragile I am. A dead fly spoils the perfumer's ointment, says Qoheleth (Qo 9:17).
There is a disproportion between the cause of the disaster, a trivial fly, and the precious perfume that must be thrown away, all the effort, the work, the courage to found, to grow something, a company. All vanished in an instant.

There is an evil that I observed under the sun: the mistake made by a sovereign: madness is placed in high places and the skilled sit at the bottom (Qo 10.5). Ah, we're talking about politicians here. Qoheleth does not judge, too wise and witty to do so, he is amazed at the eccentricity of the human heart, capable of making such bad decisions. How is it possible that in such a high role there is such a fallible person? Whoever digs a pit falls into it… whoever breaks down a wall is bitten by a snake (Qo 10,8).

It happens as in the game of go down: while trying to remedy the “mother” misfortune, an avalanche of “minor” misfortunes, blind errors, slips follow one another. Woe to you, country, who have a boy as king (Qo 10,16). One can be an adult in the registry office, but a child in awareness and responsibility. He rules and does not understand what is happening, he cannot interpret. Then?
Qoheleth's advice arrives. Throw your bread on the water, because in time you will find it again. Make seven or eight parts, because you don't know what disaster can happen on earth (Qo 11,1-2).
Throwing away the bread, the substance of life: throwing away one's life. Not only that, the bread must be broken, distributed in seven, eight parts. Faced with the risk that is life, says Ecclesiastes, it risks.

Don't hold back, donate. You are immersed in a mystery that is life, which you cannot control or dominate or govern.
It is the mystery of absolute transcendence. Well, what are you doing, are you hiding?
You are scared? Adam lost heaven saying: I was afraid, I hid. On the contrary, you take the opportunity that the mystery offers you: immerse yourself, dive, abandon yourself to the current! This mystery is your home.
He is ready to hug you, because you went through hell. Fearless.

Flaminia Morandi
NP May 2020