Want to feel good about yourself?
Then “you” should be the last person you think about!
When I was young, I had a friend whose family struggled to make ends meet. I vividly remember their children coming to school often times in the same worn out, tattered clothing as the day before. On a good day, their lunch consisted of ½ a sandwich and a cracker or two. We chipped in on occasion to make sure they had a hot lunch, what a delight to see someone truly enjoying a meal.
One particular Christmas comes to mind, a moment in time that has forever been entrenched in my inner being. The talk of the school around this time was always the presents you were sure to get. I remember my friend would normally avoid these conversations and would hem and haw his way out of it if asked. Well, Christmas day had come and gone and when school returned, we were all anxious to display the new wares off to our classmates. It didn’t take long to notice that my friend was not participating in everyone else’s excitement. Knowing what the answer was most likely going to be, I carefully (as much as a 10 year old can) asked how his Christmas was. Immediately, his eyes welled up and with a voice of anguish, he managed to stammer a few words of how his parents lamented that this year’s Christmas was going to be in spirit only.
His pain immediately became mine as I felt just plain awful not only because of his circumstance but also that he had to endure our gleeful talk of presents. Now, don’t misunderstand my inference in this last sentence, as we all have to endure through difficult circumstances. However, my intent was simply to arouse the empathy intrinsic in all of us. At any rate, I recall that evening my thoughts prevailed solely upon his feelings and how helpless I felt. With little options on my part (10 y.o.a.), I turned to the only solution I had within my power. Just a few days earlier, I received a particular gift that I had wanted along with something inside that was quite surprising. Seeing that my lack of want in no way compared to my friend, I was quite delighted in what I came up with and very eager for school the next morning.
The next day, I impatiently waited for the first break where I could set off with my friend to an area where we wouldn’t be disturbed. Words cannot begin to describe not only how I felt but the look on his face and the sincere expressions of gratitude; it created a memorable euphoric feeling that to this day, still generates a reaction in me that is unequalled by any man made pleasure or self indulgence.
Sometime later, I remember being asked by my mother where my new wallet with the money inside had gone. I wasn’t sure how she was going to react at first to what I had done; however, much to my relief, it was met with many terms of endearment.
From that moment on, I have found the greatest joy in life to be the giving of yourself – in whatever capacity – to another human being. Life is a shadow, passing as a breath in time. Stop trying to find self indulgent, existential highs to perpetuate your own desires. Find true joy and happiness seeing to the needs of others without the “what’s in it for me / selfish gain bravado” ever present in our society, you’ll never regret it!
Vanity of Vanities, All is Vanity
A wise man once said,
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
So what drives us to do what we do while we exist? For most, it is self recognition, pleasure seeking thrills that chase the winds of excitement. But is it ever truly realized? Oh sure, that temporary high of a pleasurable moment in time feels great, but soon fades like the morning dew. Like a child’s toy that gets tossed in time, or the 4th marriage that just has to be the greenest grass yet, or the drug induced (pick your chemical) high, or the latest must have hi-tech gadget that’s sure to please, what’s the difference amongst any of these?
The answer simply put is looking for external stimuli to facilitate inward happiness. Yet what possible worldy stimuli will ever satiate your soul with everlasting joy? Has this world ever offered anything that will last forever? So do we just live to keep jumping from high to the next existential high, often times with no real purpose or meaning other than self gratification?
Then we die. What does any of this matter then?
What if, instead, we looked inward for everlastying joy that had meaning and pupose? That’s where our soul exists, a soul that God predestined to be here, at this time, at this place. A soul that has been given the freedom of choice. How you use this choice will determine your destiny.
The wisest of all men, after seeking all the vainglorious wiles the world offers, profoundly stated “Vanity of Vanities, All is Vanity”. Seek no more the emptiness of this world, rather search your soul and seek the One who created you to be here. He’s waiting with nail driven, outstretched hands, to impute His righteousness, to atone with His blood, to cover us with His never ending grace that is sufficient for all mankind.
How? By humbling yourself to your knees, and begin living each day – not for yourself for a change – but for Him. Afraid? He promises to provide all you’ll ever need if you stand for Him. Not sure? It’s just your eternal destination that hangs in the balance…. Get in His living word, the only thing that has stood the test of time, that is as relevant today as it was 100, a 1000 years ago. Name anything that has withstood the test of time and is as relevant as this.
What does it matter what your external circumstances are when you know that you know where your ultimate, eternal destination lies? What joy indeed it is when the next time someone asks, “How ya doin”? and you respond “I’m fantastic, I have a home forever in heaven”!
Out of focus
Grossly overpaid entertainers (and all of that ilk), who choose to think of themselves in some warped Zeus-like dementia, are convinced that their actions are neither subject to impunity nor any moral scrutiny. Vick is just the latest ego to land on the daily abhorrent list of the morally challenged.
I could engage in a lengthy, argumentative discourse as to why this is happening, but suffice it to say – A Godless, amoral society is a veritable breeding ground for depravity. Our vision, collectively and singularly, has been skewed. What was once right and wrong, moral and immoral, truth and fiction has become blurred by man’s degradative view of the way things ‘outta be’. When you tilt the moral scales in this fashion, the precipitous decline of a nation, as history has shown, is sure to follow.
This is not a vindictive assault on one mans’ mistake(s). All men are inherently carnal, mistake prone from birth, and need look no further than inward to find fault. Rather this is more of a clarion call to parents raising children in this almost all secular society. In order to effect change, traditional/biblical based morals must be taught to those who still possess an innocent understanding. It is our responsibility to shape their idealism, they are the future.
