in the doctrine of a good, albeit fallen, creation. If, however, his crisis is resolved, as I think it finally is, then retrospectively all those areas of life he examined become meaning-full, even if not fully understandable. Remembering his creator is the solid ground to which Qoheleth finally returns and which enables him to affirm life—thereby granting the carpe diem passages the final say—without detracting from the brokenness of life as evident in the threefold “before” in 12:1–7. All the areas