Chaplaincy - Spirituality, Faith and Meaning
An occasional column by your chaplains exploring areas of life and the spiritual
A survey conducted on what people are seeking after in their lives revealed that the most common answer by far was ‘happiness’. However, what people believe will make them happy varied considerably: from having a good holiday, looking beautiful (hence the boom in sales of beauty products and the popularity of cosmetic surgery), pursuing a passion in life (particularly sports, but could be any hobby), having power over people through attaining a position of influence, enjoying a stable marriage and loving children, acquiring lots of money and other forms of material wealth, forging a successful professional or business career, gaining respect among peers and status in society, and owning their own house. However in today’s consumer society, those who are able to find true and lasting happiness in living a life with meaning and purpose are few and far between. It has been said: "There are two sources of unhappiness in life. One is not getting what you want, the other is getting it" (Bernard Shaw).
In the first chapter of the book Beyond the Treadmill (Scripture Union, London, 1987), Rowland Moss wrote: "Have you ever watched a hamster on a treadmill? It spends a great deal of time and energy getting nowhere. It is supposed to enjoy it, though I have never had a close enough relationship with a hamster to find out. Because it is in a cage, the exercise is pointless. We speak of the Rat Race, and accept it as a necessary part of life. For many of us, other human beings are rivals, even enemies, in the race to get to the top. We spend a great deal of energy trying to put ourselves a step ahead. We are like rats on a treadmill striving for the elusive prize at the top, which we never reach. The only way of escape seems to be either to opt out or to fall off completely exhausted. Even if we reach the top, staying there takes even more effort and requires a delicate balancing act. The bitter irony is that eventually we all end up dead on the floor of the cage, however near the top of the mill we manage to get. The treadmill is futile because it doesn’t lead anywhere and cannot lead anywhere because it is set in a cage. The cage of rats fully equipped with numerous inviting treadmills, is a picture of the society in which we live."
The Rat Race can also be seductive for those at the top as they become bewitched by the adrenaline of success and enslaved by the tyranny of the dollar. Jesus had reminded us: "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" (Matthew 16:26). The futility of material excess was expressed by King Solomon (970–928 BC) who was probably the wealthiest and the most powerful person in the Old Testament: "I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them … I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me … I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers and a harem as well – the delights of the flesh. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me … I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labour. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:4–11). Such futile pursuit to find happiness has not changed for the last 3000 years. An article that was recently published in the magazine ‘Professional Life’ gave the following insights based on interviews with top professional and business people: "I found that many of the people you see on the front covers of the financial magazines, who come across as these successful, confident, happy men – are not! When you are behind closed doors with them and you talk about their life, they say to you in very quiet tones: "It is meant to feel better than this. I am financially successful, I have all this power, but you know, it is very empty." It has been said that there is a God–shaped hole in our heart, which only God can fill. In today’s competitive society, it is difficult to find true and lasting happiness, and most people find themselves harassed and helpless in their efforts to survive the Rat Race.
"When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless" (Matthew 9:36). Life situations that cause people to be harassed and helpless have changed since Jesus’ time, but the same plight has remained with us today. Fortunately, our God is the same loving and compassionate God today as he was yesterday. Our God shows love and compassion to all as he is: "The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort" (2 Corinthians 1:3). In particular, he shows love and compassion to those who are troubled: "The Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones" (Isaiah 49:13). Most importantly, God shows love and compassion on all of us sinners: "You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love" (Nehemiah 9:17). As Jesus Christ is the image of our invisible God (Colossians 1:15), he had given us a practical demonstration of God’s love and compassion when he came to live among us 2000 years ago. He supported the weak: "A bruised weed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out" (Matthew 12:20). He gave rest to the weary: "Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). He healed the sick: "He had compassion on the sick and healed them" (Matthew 14:14). He comforted the bereaved: "His heart went out to the widow and he said, don’t cry" (Luke 7:13).
Jesus described humankind as "like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). The most well known analogy of the shepherd and his sheep is in Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul." Jesus’ reassurance is that: "Our Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost" (Matthew 18:14). He saved us by coming among us to suffer and die for our sins on the cross: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep" (John 10:11). All we need to do is to respond to God’s amazing grace: "All who enter through me will be saved. They will come in … and find pasture" ((John 10:9). We can be confident that Jesus Christ whom we acknowledge as our Saviour knows us personally and will journey with us through life: "I know my sheep and my sheep know me" (John 10:14). As we get to know and to love Jesus Christ more and more, we will also acknowledge him as our Lord and live as his disciple obedient to his commandments: "His sheep follow him because they know his voice" (John 10:4).
Jesus Christ in his love and compassion comes to bring wholeness and quality life to all of us: physical, emotional psychological and spiritual. He offers us a quality of life that the world cannot give: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10), as well as the assurance of eternal life: "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Unfortunately, the problem remains that many in the world have chosen not to respond to God’s love and compassion and have rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour: "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
God’s promise to all his children is, "I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hand" (Isaiah 49:15–16). Jesus’ assurance to us is: "Surely I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20). True and lasting happiness cannot be gained from what the world has to offer, but from faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13) that God has given us through his Holy Spirit, and which comes through a genuine and growing relationship we can have with Jesus Christ.
The Reverend Professor Victor Yu is a Physician at Monash Medical Centre and a deacon at St Matthias Richmond Anglican Church
