There is a chasm
so deep and so wide in each human’s soul that all of creation cannot fill it
up. The void hurts and cries like a hungry infant to be filled, and the pain of
emptiness is unbearable.
One only has to
watch television or go to a movie, or even read a newspaper to see all the
unsatisfied souls in America.
This state which plagues humans is a train wreck waiting to happen, and the
broken rail that causes the derailment is discontent. Discontent breeds fear, and the two create a
completely useless life because one who is not satisfied cannot satisfy. It is
quite surprising that Americans have this extent of discontent in their hearts.
After all, America
is the land of milk and honey. Americans have more pocket change than most of
the world has in a week. Americans exhibit such deep cravings that no amount of
new clothes, new cars, new toys, new sex, husband, wife, children, work, hobby
or church activity can satisfy.
The crevasse
within the soul is such a god-sized hole, one must either find or create a god
to fill it. For the most part, Americans give evidence that they use two
primordial gods called Fortune and Destiny to that end. The question is why do
so many put faith in what has proven very fickle down through the ages? Humans
would rather put faith in what they can see and touch rather than in the
invisible. It is our nature. Worshipping Fortune, man depends upon the work of
his hands. In worshipping Destiny, he haplessly attributes circumstance to “It
just wasn’t in the cards,” or “It was fate.” Whether good or bad, regardless of
his choices and decisions, Americans of today relinquish responsibility for
consequence. It wasn’t always so.
Because man sees
circumstance as destiny, seeds of discontent germinate because satisfaction is
tasted, but not savored and fully digested. Cravings keep driving a person
without giving any direction to where it can be satisfied. Many things lessen
the ache, but all are temporal and temporary. This causes that circle of
despair which has no egress. This is what causes Americans to put faith in what
the moth can destroy and hope in what can be gone in a moment. Fortune and
Destiny have no eyes to see the despair and troubles, no ears to hear the cry
for help and no hand to reach down and comfort. Yet, Americans keep driving
down an empty road searching for the elusive prize of satisfaction, never
recognizing the temporary cannot satisfy the eternal.
This quest for
Satisfaction rules the hearts of most humans, but Americans have tuned it to a
fine art beyond the basic necessities of life. Hungry? Visit the
All-You-Can-Eat bar. Thirsty? Get the 32 oz. Caf-Pow. Depressed? Go shopping. Everything
must be bigger, better, higher; there is no end to our desires and choices for
satisfying them.
Our forefathers
are rolling in their graves, so to speak, at what America puts first. Our nation was
built on Biblical principles by Christian men and women. One has only to do a
bit of reading of historical speeches and writings of John Hancock, John Adams,
Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, and many others to know that the God of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Matthew, Mark, Paul and John was also the God of our
forefathers. Nonetheless, today the battle cry is not “A Bible in every house”
(Ben Franklin). It is “King size it” and “I’ll have it my way” for “If it feels
good, do it” and “Just do it” because “I deserve a break today.” Regardless of
lessons from times past, Americans have not learned how to let history be a
teacher.
No comments:
Post a Comment