Jared and his Sand Castles.

con·tent ²   adj.
1.              Desiring no more than what one has; satisfied.
2.              Ready to accept or acquiesce; willing:

Last week at CG, we were looking at the last part of Philippians (Chapter 4 vs. 10 – 13), and we came across this part where Paul spoke about the many contrasting states he has been through: poverty, wealth, hunger and satiation. We were discussing what it meant to be content, and then it occurred to me – Paul was not saying that we need to learn to make do with little – or that the possession of plenty was a bad thing in itself. Rather, the crux of it was that we were to realize that the state we are in is immaterial. Thus to really be content in life – we should be wiling to let go and accept the change to our externals and count nothing as truly our own and our right.

Over the past few weeks I have been battling and tossing and turning to issues with my own contentment. Things have taken a less than desirable turn in terms of my career. One thought led to another, and pretty soon I was very much questioning where I would be financially in the next 3 – 5 years, and how many of my dreams I would be able to achieve.

The population at large now commits two major sins – we want independence and we want comfort. We strive hard to earn money and get promoted not for money’s sake, but for the independence and comfort that money can potentially bring us. We want to be independent financially so we have no need to account for anything – so called – when we spend our time and money. And maybe if we cannot be all that independent, we want to be comfortable and have access to the material luxuries. And yet, the desire for these two things in our immediate future bring us much sorrow and heartache in our immediate now. I guess our core problem is we want to exert our so-called right to live comfortably.

From these struggles I have come to accept that comfort is not my right, and independence is not my destination. If I have comfort I am thankful – and if I don’t it should not be a big deal. If I do not have the independence I want I draw it from Him and in fact surrender more so that I am free of the lure of that state. The world lauds the people who have the ability to chose comfort and exercise independence. But really in the end we are called to be different.

I have learned not to complicate my life and instead learn to savor it for the simplicities that I am allowed.I have learned that waiting is a part of life and that really the seasons that are seemingly barren can actually yield the most fruit.

We can so easily get sucked into that preoccupation with ourselves and I think that in the long run does damage to not only ourselves but those around us. As for me, I guess that the only reason I could answer that question in CG a with this perspective is because the path the question will inadvertantly bring you to is freshly trodden.

 We often see children building sand castles by the beach – complete with towers, turrets, moats and barricades. Building them is really quite fun. And yet I also recall that watching them being washed away by the sea was also just as fun. I think something I must always remember in my life is this; sand castles are pretty to look at, and if we ever get the chance to we should build them. Yet I must constantly also remember that my silicate citadel of pristine beauty will be washed away. And instead of mourning the inevitable – I should be thankful that I had the chance to build it anyway. I thank God then for every sand castle He has allowed me to build, and I also rejoice when it is taken away, cause I can build another one with Him.

Good night.

~ by jaredtan on February 24, 2008.