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Vanity
of Life
Despair
Sometimes
it gets extremely dark in the tunnel. All of a sudden
just when we think we
see a light at the end
instead it turns out to be a train coming right at us!
Such is the hopeless
fatalistic view of a desperate person.
Despair
It
is no accident that we describe lives without Jesus Christ as “empty
” because
that is exactly what they are. The world today is suffering from what Dr. Carl
Jung calls “a neurosis of emptiness.” He says
“When goal goes
meaning goes;
when meaning goes
purpose goes; when purpose goes
life goes dead on our
hands.
Despair
A
skeptic wrote in his autobiography: “What else is there to make life tolerable?
We stand on the shore of an ocean
crying to the night
and in the emptiness
sometimes a voice answers out of the darkness. But it is the voice of one
drowning
and in a moment the silence returns and the world seems to be quite
dreadful. The unhappiness of many people is very great
and I often wonder how
they endure it.
Vanity
A Chinese
legend tells of a group of cultured elderly gentlemen who met often to exchange
wisdom and drink tea. Each host tried to find the finest and most costly
varieties of tea so as to create exotic blends that would arouse the admiration
of his guests.
When the most venerable
and respected of the group entertained
he served his tea with unprecedented
ceremony
measuring the leaves from a golden box. The assembled epicures
praised this exquisite tea. The host smiled and said
“The tea you have found
so delightful is the same tea our peasants drink. I hope that it will be a
reminder to us all that the good things in t1life are not necessarily the
rarest or the most costly.”
Despair
Sometimes it gets extremely
dark in the tunnel. All of a sudden
just when we think we see a light at the
end
instead it turns out to be a train coming right at us! Such is the
hopeless
fatalistic view of a desperate person. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Despair
It is no accident that we
describe lives without Jesus Christ as “empty
” because that is exactly what
they are. The world today is suffering from what Dr. Carl Jung calls “a
neurosis of emptiness.” He says
“When goal goes
meaning goes; when meaning
goes
purpose goes; when purpose goes
life goes dead on our hands. ── Michael
P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Despair
A skeptic wrote in his
autobiography: “What else is there to make life tolerable? We stand on the
shore of an ocean
crying to the night
and in the emptiness sometimes a voice
answers out of the darkness. But it is the voice of one drowning
and in a
moment the silence returns and the world seems to be quite dreadful. The
unhappiness of many people is very great
and I often wonder how they endure
it. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Vanity
A Chinese legend tells of a
group of cultured elderly gentlemen who met often to exchange wisdom and drink
tea. Each host tried to find the finest and most costly varieties of tea so as
to create exotic blends that would arouse the admiration of his guests.
When the most venerable and
respected of the group entertained
he served his tea with unprecedented
ceremony
measuring the leaves from a golden box. The assembled epicures
praised this exquisite tea. The host smiled and said
“The tea you have found
so delightful is the same tea our peasants drink. I hope that it will be a
reminder to us all that the good things in t1life are not necessarily the
rarest or the most costly.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Tennis star Boris Becker was at the
very top of the tennis world -- yet he was on the brink of suicide. He said
"I had won Wimbledon twice before
once as the youngest player. I was
rich. I had all the material possessions I needed ... It's the old song of
movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything
and yet
they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string."
Becker is not the only one to feel
that sense of emptiness. The echoes of a hollow life pervade our culture. One
doesn't have to read many contemporary biographies to find the same frustration
and disappointment. Jack Higgens
author of such successful novels and The
Eagle Has Landed
was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. His
answer: "That when you get to the top
there's nothing there."
Our Daily Bread
July 9
1994.
On November 25
1895
a cornerstone of
ice was laid in Leadville
Colorado -- the beginning of the largest ice palace
ever built in America. In an effort to bolster the town's sagging economy
the
citizens staged a winter carnival. On New Year's Day of 1896
the town turned
out for the grand opening. The immense palace measured 450 x 320 feet. The
towers that flanked the entrance were 90 feet high. Inside was a
16
000-square-foot skating rink. But by the end of March the palace was melting
away
along with the hopes of Leadville. The thousands of visitors had spent
very little.
Today in the Word
August 4
1993.
Tennis star
Boris Becker was at the very top of the tennis world -- yet he was on the brink
of suicide. He said
"I had won Wimbledon twice before
once as the
youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed ...
It's the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have
everything
and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet
on a string."
Becker is not
the only one to feel that sense of emptiness. The echoes of a hollow life
pervade our culture. One doesn't have to read many contemporary biographies to
find the same frustration and disappointment. Jack Higgens
author of such
successful novels and The Eagle Has Landed
was asked what he would like
to have known as a boy. His answer: "That when you get to the top
there's
nothing there."
Our Daily
Bread
July 9
1994.
Some men become proud and insolent
because they ride a fine horse
wear a feather in their hat or are dressed in a
fine suit of clothes. Who does not see the folly of this? If there be any glory
in such things
the glory belongs to the horse
the bird and the tailor.── St. Francis de Sales.