Nobody, not even God, begrudges a reasonable desire to freshen our lagging spirit with a change in scenery. We are simply cautioned against their too free use for it is easy for them to lead one astray
What is needed more for our own good is really a renewal of good intentions and noble motives for serving higher causes.
What is the lasting good for continually seeking new sights? Doesn’t that pursuit simply distract us from our nobler purposes?
Desire only enough to improve the quality of our lasting good works and our lives.
Worthy thoughts to have as we wake up each morning of the rest of our lives.
This reflection is about something more direct and straight forward.
The temporal nature of man is a big burden he carries all his life, seeping into the very marrows of his existence.
Thus when he begins to address his impending mortality, he initiates the process of accepting and preparing for it. One then finds in most instances that man continues to cater to this fleeting nature with the plans and resolutions he makes.
Thus he is wont to declare, that because he is close to the end of the road, he needs to take life easy, enjoy new sights and experiences, take leisurely trips, bond more with friends and relations, etc. A common thread in all this is that they all partake of the temporal nature of man.
Remember what the Scriptural admonition for death is? Remember the incident about the man who wanted salvation and so asked Christ what he needed to do with his life knowing it would be taken away from him at an undetermined time? The answer was curt and succinct. Live your life like you would live the last day of your life.
Implying that the inevitability and urgency require that one focuses on spiritual matters that lead to eternal salvation.
Our late father was one person who was gifted with unique insights into the higher purposes of man. Thus, years prior to his passing he had tried as much as he could to shed himself of the trappings and frailties of this life. Devoting instead his efforts to things that transcended this temporal existence.
But he was also a frustrated man. Having wished and worked so much for more of life, he felt that fortune and ease had escaped him.
The lesson left behind for us to learn is the delicate balance we need to put between spiritual matters and the alluring things that this life dangles before and offers us. As man, we need to steadily straddle between the two. Except that after this life, only the other remains.
This will be a constant struggle throughout our entire lives.
