THE BLIND

I'm taking a different approach with this post, and perhaps some others in the future.  I've decided this time to express some of my thoughts in poetry, or in this case what might be termed "free verse".  That is, I like to write sometimes in a way that doesn't necessarily have the rhyme or tempo of traditional poetry, although there are hints of them here and there.

I've found this to be an extremely effective way to basically throw some of my thoughts into words when I'm having a time of intense or abundant thought - when I can just close my eyes and type them out at break-neck speed (in my case around 70 words per minute) and not worry about making complete sentences.

For future reference, any post that I write in poetry will have the title IN BOLD LETTERING like this post.  Here goes, and may God speak to your heart about what you read ...

The Blind Leading The Blind

Oprah Winfrey doesn’t have the answers
Eckhart Tolle doesn’t have the answers
Stephen Hawking doesn’t have the answers
Rhonda Byrne doesn’t have the answers

If they did, then why do they still seek?
Why do they never find?
Why do they lack peace?

Books and magazines
“Today’s special guest”
Self-delusion makes a name
Mass-delusion makes a profit

And the masses follow
Blind and led by blind masters
Too busy to seek Truth
Seeking riches, seeking youth
So they accept the lies of others
Without question, without thought

Together they stumble
They wander ever closer
To a pit, The Pit

Truly, they have their reward
Their reward is near
Nothing eternal
They live for right here
Choosing the wide path
That leads to destruction

God is too inconvenient
Bad for their name
Bad for profit

So they keep up the game
Of delusion, denial
“Put Him out of your mind
He’s dead, He’s blind
As if I’ll stand before Him one day
The Bible’s a lie”
Or so they say

They may be here now
But what about tomorrow?
What about death?
What about you – Who do you choose??

Meaning and fulfillment

Charles Stanley made an observation on one of his radio sermons a few years back that has always stuck with me because it was so profound.  He said something along the lines that we were designed by God as spiritual beings, and therefore the only true meaning and fulfillment we are able to find is through spiritual means.  But all too often we aren’t fulfilled because we look for meaning and fulfillment through physical means – money, possessions, sexual gratification, etc.  In other words, because we are spiritual beings we cannot find these things through physical means.  This was truly an amazing revelation that God gave to Dr. Stanley because it explains so much about human nature, particularly our modern culture.

Basically, it perfectly explains why for most people, enough is never enough.  They get the home, car, or job that they’ve always sought after and longed for, but after a time their dream isn’t enough for them any more.  They grow tired of it because it didn’t provide the fulfillment they thought it would.  Then they begin to long for the next home, car, or job that they’re sure will do what the first one couldn’t do for them.  This explains why fads and trends exist, and why people fall for them.

Or they plunge headlong into a relationship with someone because they get such excitement and apparent meaning and fulfillment with that person – until time wears on and they realize that person isn’t always able to provide them with those things.  That person isn’t perfect and they make mistakes and they say and do hurtful things.  Then – more often than not – that relationship ends when one partner decides that being alone or finding another relationship is what will provide the meaning and fulfillment that the previous relationship was supposed to.

Sadly, people who call themselves Christians – those who claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ – fall into the same trap of trying to find meaning and fulfillment in the things of this world instead of the One they claim as their Lord and Savior.  They start looking at the world around them and often unwittingly start wanting what it has to offer.  They look at co-workers and neighbors and start to become conformed to them instead of being an agent of change in their lives.  They compromise their morals in order to try to be accepted by those that hate God instead of daring to be different and taking moral stands and showing the love of God.  They start to buy the bigger houses, the newer cars, and the higher-paying jobs and begin to wonder if it’s really worth it to spare the time and effort toward getting to know their God better.

Then one day, most of these “Christians” by title only wake up and wonder what happened.  They look at their possessions and/or level of life achievement and wonder why they their lives aren’t meaningful or fulfilled at all.  Some think that meaning or fulfillment is still yet around the corner with the next possession.  Others think that God has let them down, as though being blessed only meant being financially abundant.  These are the ones who are still putty in the devil’s hands.

But a few come to realize that the years of effort and sacrifice to find these things through what the world has to offer, through physical means, has only built them a house of cards.  When the winds of life blow and stock prices tumble, or jobs disappear, or health fades, they find their house of cards is not able to protect them, let alone bring peace that passes all understanding, which is a reflection of true meaning and fulfillment.

Only when a person takes and makes the time to know God better – through things like reading the Bible, praying, being with other believers, and letting God love other people through them – will true meaning and fulfillment in life be found, through spiritual acts instead of physical means.

The Hole

What do Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain all have in common? Well, their fame is the most obvious. They were all revolutionary musicians in their time. Most of them had an addiction to one or more type of drugs. Some of you may even note how their names have been listed in order of their date of death, from earliest to most current. Some of you may even know how they all ironically died at the age of 27, forming part of what some refer to as the "27 Club" or "Dead at 27".

They experienced pretty much all of the success that the non-Christian world places the highest importance upon: fame, money, and material possessions. And despite the fact that they all had relationship problems and were mostly lonely and depressed - hence the drug abuse - countless musicians in their wake still aspire to their fame and lifestyles. It's as though they think fame and wealth will make them immune to what befell their idols.

But these non-Christian famous (and not-yet-famous) people have another thing in common that only a Christian in a close walk with God would notice, an all too common and tragic ailment: they all had a hole in their heart. They all achieved most of the worldly plateaus of success, but they were still missing that one thing that would have filled this hole and given them the peace, joy, and satisfaction - the ultimate aims of success - that were eluding them.

Their bank account wasn't able to fill it. Drugs filled it for a time, at the beginning, until they did what all drugs do, which is to drag their users to the brink of death and despair and sometimes into death itself. Not even Yoko Ono could fill the hole in John Lennon's heart, nor Courtney Love in Kurt Cobain's heart. Nor their lavish homes or lifestyles or possessions that so many common people covet.

Their hole was not something that physical or emotional things are designed to fill. Their hole was a spiritual one.

A man whose teachings have had an enormous influence on my Christian walk since it started, Charles Stanley, once remarked that we cannot find our fulfillment in physical things because we were designed as spiritual beings. His point is that we can only find our fulfillment in - have that hole in our hearts filled by - spiritual things.

Now his argument would not have made sense to me when I heard it if my experiences - and those of so many other people - weren't able to back it up. But when I heard this argument around ten years ago, I had just turned my back on a lifestyle that defied and rejected God and coincidentally had left me with no peace, joy, or satisfaction whatsoever. In my old life, I turned to everything that these famous people did to try to fill the hole in my heart and my life was as unfulfilling as theirs were.

My new life, however - which started by getting right with God through asking Jesus Christ to forgive me of my sins and to have Him live His life through me - had already given me peace, joy, and satisfaction that I had never experienced before nor realized that I could ever have through something so simple (and weird sounding!) as placing my life into the hands of this Jesus.

Even after reading this, some people still can't imagine how people with such fame, money, and material possessions could still possibly have unfulfilled lives. But check out the cover stories at your nearest magazine stand: Jen still seems so lost and empty without Brad. Heather has left Paul heartbroken and also ripped a gaping hole into his bank account. Then there's the ongoing saga with Britney and Justin and their dysfunctional kids. And on and on. When they realized that their fame, money, and material possessions didn't fill the hole, they turned to other people - imperfect, flawed, physical beings - to try to fill it. And then the mess that ensues ends up on magazine covers everywhere.

Jesus remarked that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24) and "You can't be slaves to both God and money" (Luke 16:13). It's not that the rich and/or famous can't know God or enter His kingdom, it's just that their fame, money, and material possessions make it hard for them to believe they need God even when their self-made attitudes and attempts to find fulfillment end up in a miserable mess.

Knowing God is the only way for the famous person and the regular person to fill the hole that exists in their hearts. How have your attempts to fill this hole apart from God panned out? If they've ended up in a miserable mess, or even just left you unfulfilled, then continuing to reject God is holding you back from the peace, joy, and satisfaction that you're really searching for and that only God promises through Jesus Christ.