THE

"Brightly beams our Father's mercy

From the lighthouse evermore;

But to us He gives the keeping

Of the light along the shore."

REALITY CHECK

Television is filled with “reality” shows that are not reality.  In reality, you and I will not be stranded on a desert island and be forced to survive.  We will not pick a spouse from gorgeous candidates competing to marry us.  We will not be hired or fired by “the Donald”.  We will not eat worms or walk across the top of a moving semi-truck for a million dollars.  We will not have our houses extremely made over in a week.   Nor will anyone transform our bodies into “swans”.  Perhaps these shows would be better labeled as “escape” from reality.

  God has given us the book of Ecclesiastes for a reality check.  His words about life apply to our lives just as much as they did to the lives of men 3000 years ago when the book was written:

Reality is that life is full of heartache.  “Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many.” (11:8)

Reality is that many live in tears daily because of those who mistreat them.  “Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun.  And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them …” (4:1)

Reality is that life is not fair.  “Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.” (3:16)

Reality is that we cannot find true satisfaction in money and what it will buy.  “He who loves

DEALING WITH REALITY

No matter how hard we try to escape reality, we just can’t.    We dream that every day will be pleasant, but reality is that we have many dark days.  We dream that people will always treat each other with kindness and fairness, but, in reality, many times we ourselves have felt the sting of mistreatment and injustice.  We dream that we will be happy if we just have a little more of what money can buy, but, in reality, we’re like the child who thinks if they got the toy in the catalog, they’d have all they ever wanted- who then gets the toy- but soon after is eyeing the catalog for still another toy. We dream we will live to be old, ignoring the reality that it may not happen, illustrated right in front of our eyes by the early passing of family and friends.  We dream that we can preserve our youth, but reality is wrinkle cream and hair dye may hide the aging of the body, but they cannot stop it.  We dream that we will always be able to enjoy what we have worked so hard for, blind to the reality that it soon will belong to someone else when we leave this world with what we brought into it- nothing!

We are fortunate that God had Solomon to “tell it like it is” about life and, in the end, to tell us what life must be all about, if we are to live it to its fullest, despite its dark realities.  His closing words were, “The conclusion when all has been heard is:  fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.  For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” (12:13-14)