As I took a quick look at a social media feed recently, I was struck by the sequence of a posting from a celebration in New Orleans that immediately followed images of the devastation in Ukraine and an appeal for help. Pain, suffering and oppression, followed by joy, merriment and excess. The disconnect was immediate, and caught me off guard.
However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that those images simply reflected a reality about life in this world that we live in. None of us will escape death, and there will likely be pain, hardship and suffering at times throughout our lives. Hopefully, for most of us, that doesn’t include time in an active war zone, but we will all face troubles and trials. Yet at the same time, we also know that love, laughter and joy can find us even in the worst of circumstances.
Our challenge here in the most affluent nation in all of history is that we tend to believe that life is supposed to be all about joy and merriment. Parents who worked tirelessly for everything that they have almost always want their children to have an easier, better life. Daily we are bombarded with images of luxury and frivolity. From every possible angle we are taught that we deserve everything that our hearts desire, and that we should direct our efforts towards enjoying each day to the fullest. Yet this highly touted fantasy that masquerades as the “American Dream” denies the reality that there is and always will be sorrow, suffering and death in our lives.
When we focus only on the pursuit of pleasure, we can easily harden our hearts to the needs of those who are suffering. Not only does that mean that we are less likely to help those around us who are hurting, but it also means that we will be ill-prepared for the times when death and suffering strike our own homes. The author of the Book of Ecclesiastes understood this when he wrote the following: It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.
It isn’t wrong to want to go to the house of feasting, and it isn’t wrong to post pictures of a celebration in New Orleans or wherever you may be celebrating. Yet if we are to enjoy those moments wisely and truly, we should spend some time in the house of mourning. To sit or walk alongside someone at the lowest point in their life is to have an opportunity to provide perhaps a sliver of sunshine or a ray of hope to a desperate soul. At the same time, it is also a reminder of what lies ahead for ourselves. Someday, we may be the one without hope, or we may be the one that people are mourning. Therefore, we should find that balance that allows us to use our resources and gifts to help others in their times of mourning while also savoring the precious moments that we have been given to enjoy life with those who we love.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron