Information Related to "What Do I Need Right Now?"
| Audio/Video |
These
are the best of times. These are the worst of times." Not
my line, but it can apply to any age and any person. If you are A-Rod
(Alex Rodriguez) and you recently penned your name on a 10-year, $252-million
deal to play baseball, well, it is the best of times, at least from a
financial standpoint. (I'm from Texas and like the Rangers, but, please!
$252 million? Give me a break!) If you are a 16-year old from Zimbabwe
infected with AIDS and, thereby, sentenced to an early death, it is the
worst of times. What a senseless tragedy!
Are times good or are they bad? It's all a matter of perspective.
If you are a young person living in America, you've been surfing on the
crest of a very long period of financial expansion. And yet we don't have
to look very far to find homeless, hopeless people from sea to shining
sea. No matter where we live, we can always look around and find people
who are seemingly way better off than we are—and we can also find people
whose situation is way worse than ours.
I hope that you are dreaming big dreams and chomping at the bit to unleash your energy on the world. But, how do we keep the proper perspective as we go for it? And what does all of this have to do with church? Let's continue thinking about it together.
One thing that concerns me about America today is that it seems the whole country is consumed with the pursuit of making money and getting stuff for ourselves. We are a nation of shoppers. Materialism. I know, you probably don't like the word any more than I do. Don't get me wrong, I like nice things, too. But, if you and I are not careful, it is easy to get fooled into thinking that money brings happiness.
Not long ago I was flipping through a People magazine that featured the sexiest people or something like that. (Some guy named Brad was on the cover.) Anyway, one thing I noticed as I skimmed the bios was that almost every celebrity had been married and divorced several times. Fame and fortune can have a high cost at the human level. Is divorce painful? Do human beings suffer intense, deep personal hurt when relationships go bad and crumble? Absolutely! But I wonder if the stars would trade their fame and fortune for one healthy, happy, lifelong marriage? My guess is that in most cases the answer would be no. And that is the problem.
Related Information on UCG Sites:
Table of Contents that includes "What Do I Need Right Now?"
Other Articles by Steve McNeely
Materialism: