“All of it is vanity, a chasing after the wind.” This is from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes. It is one of my favorite phrases, though I’m not sure why. The writer is complaining that no matter what we do or accomplish in life it all ends up as meaningless as chasing after the wind. In the end you end up with nothing. I don’t agree with this, but it does resonate with certain aspects of my life. I have found that I and most of the people I know obsess over small issues that burn a lot of energy and cause us a lot of grief but in the end lead us nowhere. An example of this is the way I feel when I run into nasty drivers in my neighborhood. I live in a congested community with many aggressive and stressed out people. Just the other day a person beeped their horn at me because I slowed down to make a turn. This is not the first time this has happened. I got very angry and started to visualize ways I could get back at him. I could give him the finger, or I could stop the car and get out and… But what was the point of all of that emotional intensity? I couldn’t stop my car and punch the guy out – I’d end up in jail and/or get put in the hospital. Giving him the finger amounts to nothing. In fact the whole encounter is meaningless. Obsessing about it, as I did for a short while, was a waste of energy and pulls me away from higher more spiritual thinking. It distracts me from what is really important – striving to glorify God and learning to love my neighbor. These two things are what I should be expending energy trying to grow into, not obsessing over a driving incident. But accomplishing these superior things would be a lot easier if my neighbor was a little bit nicer.
The Urantia Book speaks only a little on the idea of disciplining our unruly minds. In the discussion in the Marks of Religious Living paper the author talks about devotion to a cause. Parents are passionately devoted to their children and many are devoted to important causes. But a true religionist is devoted to the highest cause and sets his sights on the loftiest objectives – supreme goals. And this leads a person to surrender themselves to an “all-encompassing motivation which imposes heightened self-discipline, lessens emotional conflict, and makes mortal life truly worth living” (1100.7). In other words a spiritual person strives for God and along the way finds increased mental and emotional control. As I grow in love of God and love of neighbor I grow less interested in screaming at him when he beeps at me and more interested in helping him discover what I have discovered. The problem with this is that I am a person and like everyone I have a lot of emotional baggage that I have to carry around. The discussion on Adjusters in Paper 110 talks about the problems inherent in being human. It says that it is rare for an Adjuster to break through the “chemical and electrical forces which are inherent in your physical natures” (1213.2). It also says; “you do not spiritually develop and discipline your minds to the point of favorable liaison with the divine Adjusters.” There is just too much going on inside of us. We lack the discipline to push it all aside and truly hear what God is saying. The book doesn’t fault us – instead it spurs us on to reach for the great prize of calming down the emotional turmoil and experiencing God in a real and personal way. And The Urantia Book assures us that if we strive we will succeed.
So we have to ask ourselves are we using our time and energy wisely? Am I passionately pursuing my own spiritual uplift and that of my neighbors or just being passionate for passion sake? I got into an argument over politics with my brother recently and it felt good to call his ideas stupid. Was I engaged in actively working to change our political system for the worthy cause of improving the lives of the people around me or was I just firing off enraged commentary for some cheap entertainment? When I scream at an aggressive driver am I helping him or hurting both of us? At the end of the day Jesus was an active force of positive change in the world not just a rabble rousing preacher. I need to be an active force for positive change – within me and without. I need to be working for the lofty goals of truth beauty and goodness. And I can’t do that if I am obsessed over things that amount to nothing. If I let emotions control me then truly my life will be vanity and a chasing after the wind. I aspire to more than that. I aspire to live a life that is truly worth living.
God Bless You,
Bill
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