From THREE UPBUILDING DISCOURSES (1844)
On retreating from God.
“Just as the first book in the Old Testament has been called Genesis, the second, Exodus, so it could very well be said that in human life there is a third book that is called Retreat. There is evident, then, a necessity to turn back to that which once was so beautiful but which since then has been disdained, forgotten, disregarded, defiled, and to which everyone nevertheless now has recourse with a certain shame. And it is indeed understandable that he was ashamed that he, no matter what the error of his way was, first attempted everything before he decided return.”
It is fitting that Kierkegaard, who authored a book titled Stages on Life’s Way (1845), shows an interest in spiritual development. In this passage, written long before Erik Erikson (1902-94) would posit eight stages of psychosocial maturation, Kierkegaard argues that the failings, pressures, and responsibilities of adulthood tend to pull one away from the simple and “beautiful” hopes and dreams of childhood. For Kierkegaard, this observation is as old as the Bible itself. His discourse “Think About Your Creator in the Days of Your Youth” is based on the teaching of Kohelet in the Book of Ecclesiastes: “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.” And yet, while some commentators have seen Kohelet’s guidance as deeply pessimistic, perhaps even agnostic, Kierkegaard takes a different approach. On his reading, Kohelet reminds persons to nourish and to preserve the happy thoughts that once animated their lives: “Woe to him who separates what God has joined together,” Kierkegaard concludes, “woe to him who separates adulthood from its youth.”