“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1.2)
It is easy to lose Hope in a counterfeit Consumer Culture like ours. Outwardly, we appear to have every resource and luxury, but inwardly so many of us are hollow and empty...
On the public stage, the rewards seem to go to the stupid and selfish, the craven and calculating, the incompetent and ignorant. All while those working for justice are ignored by the media, the selfless heal the wounds caused by the selfish, and those who are competent clean up the messes of the incompetent. The externalized costs of the privileged always seem to be paid by those they walk on as doormats. And yet, even the wicked cannot fully break free of righteousness. The stupid and the selfish still want to pretend they are wise and good, not only just to con people (which they do), but also because they do not want to believe they are truly stupid and selfish. This means there is something intrinsically valuable to wisdom and goodness that not even riches can buy.
The prevalence of counterfeits points to the Original. The abundance of fakes points to the Real. The use of artifice and imitation points to a deep longing for the Authentic and the Eternal. Don’t let all the false versions of religion and spirituality and community deceive you, nor the con men and predators and hypocrites make you loose hope. There is an Original, Real, Authentic, Eternal Love toward which they point using their crooked signs. Look past them toward Healing and Hope. Because even the worst of us wants what is best for us, even if they haven’t yet figured out that they cannot buy it or con it or fake it. So, be encouraged. And strive to become a living Sign that points to Real Love in the midst of a hollow and empty culture.
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