day no. 15,431: faith, hope and love abide, these three: but the greatest of these is love

"Ecclesiastes is the sunset, the end of hope; Job is the night with hope of morning; Song of Solomon is the morning." -- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

Dante's The Divine Comedy is a movement from Hell to Purgatory to Heaven. But Hell, if it is going to be overcome, must be breached by faith and so Ecclesiastes (i.e. Hell) ends by looking, for the first time, beyond the sun.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

The entire thought experiment of Ecclesiastes presupposes that the only reality is that which exists under the sun. In these last two verses, however, the Preacher looks up in faith to the reality of another way of seeing -- the way of faith that presupposes a Creator looking back down.

This is precisely the philosophy of Job and where this thread picks up. The second movement takes place at the end of Job when he finally sees God's face. Job's life (i.e. Purgatory) is one of suffering in hope for something better. It has faith, but doesn't yet see the end. But it does hope for and long for one. And then, in the end, Job sees God. His faith sees its object and his hope is confirmed in substance.

Job 42:5-6
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.

This then gives way to the final destination: the Song of Solomon (i.e Heaven). Love is faith and hope consumed in sacrificial death and the power of resurrection.

Song of Solomon 8:6
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD

The only thing stronger than death is love. It allows a grain of wheat to fall to the ground and rise, more abundant and the better for having fallen. It alone can redeem death and not only overcome it, but empower it to produce an even greater life. 

1 Corinthians 13:13
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

"Our lives are played out here and now as seeds and completed after death as flowers."

-- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life