This Sunday's Gospel: 8/1/10

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves
but are not rich in what matters to God.”


We all have heard that our lives could end at any time, and that we must always be prepared to enter eternal life. Though true, at my age, it doesn't seem real. Yes, I know I could be struck by a drunk driver or by lightning, but most things that could kill me are unlikely to happen. I don't take chances that are likely to cost me my life. And so it's easy to push it out of my mind.

Lately, I have heard many stories about young people suddenly and fatally collapsing from a heart attack or stroke. These people are not much older than I am and are seemingly in good health. What is causing this? Perhaps stress. Perhaps diet. Whatever the cause, it is something to be aware of, though not worried about it.

The realization that one could die at any time has a way of putting things in perspective. Indeed, possessions are not important and should not be what we base our lives upon. Our lives are empty indeed if we worry about and try to accumulate stuff (stuff we can't take with us). But yet our lives are so rich when we live according to God's purposes and in God's love. The feeling we get when we give to another in need is a very joyful feeling indeed, where as hording that same item gives us a feeling of deep emptiness. When we trust in the Lord for all things, it is very freeing; yet, when we try to control situations around us, we feel anxious. Yet society tells us we must have this and that to be happy. Whom should we trust; whom should we listen to? The emptiness and anxiety that accumulates in our chest starts to feel normal. And could it possibly be that the stress we feel from this trying to find happiness while we are just becoming more and more anxious, all at the pace at which our lives move, is actually killing some of us? What then is the point??

The first reading, Ecc 1:2; 2:21-23, includes these words:
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill,
and yet to another who has not labored over it,
he must leave property.
This also is vanity and a great misfortune.
For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart
with which he has labored under the sun?
All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation;
even at night his mind is not at rest.
This also is vanity.


Now I do not believe that means we should not work hard or labor. As in a post I just posted about a children's book, we are given certain "hats" to wear by our Heavenly Father - hats that reflect what we truly love to do and have been given as a gift the unique ability to do; we are to work hard in accordance with those hats, desiring God to be glorified. Doing God's will is not vanity, but working and toiling to accumulate things, always worried that they will be taken away from us or being frustrated when they break, is.

I want to end with a prayer taken directly from the psalmist
(Ps 90:3-4,5-6,12-13,14,17):
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Persistence and assertiveness

Prozac Nation?