The first time I heard part of Carl Orff’s O Fortuna, I must have been three or four years old. In fact, it is one of my earliest memories, because it scared me half to death.
I was cured of my subsequent distaste for it only a few years ago, upon discovering the “misheard lyrics” version on YouTube. After a few good laughs, curiosity got the best of me and I went in search of the real lyrics. In short, O Fortuna decries the fact that fate is ever-shifting. It culminates in the words, “At this hour / without delay / pluck the vibrating strings; / since Fate / strikes down the strong man, / everyone weep with me!”
More likely, it is a reflection on the classical themes of fate being the ultimate ruler of the Universe. The inescapability of fate is a common motif in Greek poetry and tragedy and more widely in Greek culture. Herodotus attributes the saying “Call no man happy until he is dead” to the Athenian sage Solon, following his meeting with Croesus of Lydia, who proclaimed himself to be the most fortunate man in the world, shortly before hearing of his son’s death, being stricken with blindness, and ultimately having his kingdom conquered by the Persians.
This led the philosopher Kierkegaard to call the Greek hero “the knight of infinite resignation.” He is peaceful with the fact that—as another great philosopher said—“you can’t always get what you want.” You can never declare if a man is fortunate—“happy” in this case should be taken to mean the same as “fortunate”— until the story has come to an end. Everything might come crashing down tomorrow.
This is the heart of paganism. The pagan world is ruled by the collective whim of the powerful, the gods. In the Iliad , some Greeks manage to enrage Athena. As a result, many innocent people die. They are crushed under the weight of fortune’s will.
The very opposite is true for Christians. The Christian world is governed not by fate, nor the whim of the gods, but by the all-powerful God who loves us. Nothing is random and nothing is without purpose, for “we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Imagine how strange these words might have sounded to the persecuted Roman church. Might the Romans have pondered on these words shortly after both Peter and Paul had been put to death for Christ?
I’d argue that it is precisely in this context that we can understand why Christians are to be called fortunate before they are dead. The Apostle was not naïve about the prospects of being a Christian in the first century. He himself had been beaten and imprisoned on multiple occasions. And yet, he gave thanks to God in the midst of adversity, secure in the thought that God would bring good out of evil. This might happen sooner or later, in our life or someone else’s. Perhaps we will not know until the next life all the ways in which God brought good out of the evil that we suffer.
It is for this reason, then, that the Christian is joyful whether in the midst of abundance or suffering. As the Lord tells us, “every branch that bears fruit [the Father] prunes so that it may bear more fruit” (Jn. 15:2). When we suffer, therefore, let us give thanks to God and recognize amid the suffering the skillful shears of the Father, secure in the knowledge that He will bring good out of our pain. When we rejoice in plenty, let us give thanks to Him from Whom every good thing comes. In all things, let us give thanks to the God Who works all things together for good for us.
Gjergji Evangjeli served as the Editor-In-Chief of The Torch. He had previously served as the Executive Editor and the World News section editor. He is currently pursuing a ThM at the BC School of Theology and Ministry. Gjergji is interested in the patristic period, specifically in the apologists of the second century. He is an ardent defender of the Oxford comma.
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