By Richard Clifford, SJ

According to a recent headline in USA Today, “The prevalence of anxiety has skyrocketed in the U.S. over recent years, affecting more than a third of adults every year. Anxiety is among the most common mental illnesses in the country.” Strong words, but seconded by mental health experts, and echoed by the Lectionary readings today. Qoheleth asks shrewdly, “For what profit comes to mortals from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which they toil under the sun?” And Jesus asks, “The things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?”

No single biblical verse or passage can do away with the anxiety that attends every human being living in an uncertain world, but Qoheleth and Jesus can help us to see anxiety as an opportunity to grow closer to God. Qoheleth (the book’s Hebrew name; Ecclesiastes in Greek) adopts the persona of the wise king Solomon, who explored every avenue to wisdom to fulfill his quest and calm his heart. Qoheleth concluded, however, “that the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the valiant, nor a livelihood by the wise, nor riches by the shrewd, nor favor by the experts,” but rather, “there is nothing better for humans than to eat and drink and provide themselves with good things from their toil. Even this, I saw, is from the hand of God. . . For to anyone God favors, he gives wisdom and knowledge and joy (Qoheleth 9:11; 2:26 emended). We are therefore in the hands of a God who is mysterious but trustworthy, even when God seems silent and we feel overwhelmed.

Jesus’s parable about the rich man who tried to guarantee his future by building more storehouses teaches a similar lesson. The rich man could not control his future. Early death cut him down and nullified his careful plans. “Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

Though both these passages seem negative, their message is positive: Trust in the Lord to guide and protect you rather than trusting in your own talents and wealth.

Richard Clifford, S.J., has taught biblical studies for 55 years, most recently at the Clough School of Theology and Ministry, Boston College, and has written many scholarly and popular books and articles.