Gathering in Christ

Ecclesiastes 1:13

And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven…

No man who thinks and faces life as it actually is can be other than pessimistic.There is no way out unless he finds it by religious faith or is blinded by his temperament. The summing up of all practical life is that the basis of things is tragic. Sum up your life as it actually is, and, unless you look at actual things from a religious or temperamental or intellectual standpoint, everything is to be said for this philosophy: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” If rationalism is the basis of things, that is undoubtedly the most reasonable thing to do.

But if the basis of things is tragic, then the Bible standpoint comes nearer the solution, and Nietzsche is nearer the truth than any rationalist. Neitzsche declares that the basis of things is tragic, and that the way out is by the merciless superman; the Bible reveals that the basis of life is tragic and that the way out is by redemption. We say that man is in the process of evolution -- a magnificent promise of what he is going to be! The wisdom of the Bible looks at man’s history and attainments and says, “What a magnificent ruin of what he was created to be!”

Excerpts from Oswald Chambers

Daily Devotional Bible, Reading 238 (8/26)

From The Shade of His Hand

This photograph is by Charlie Burnell.