There's a wonderful old hymn that says, "Build your hopes on things eternal, hold to GOD'S unchanging hand." As the words of the song remind us, regardless of what circumstance we are faced with in this life, there is nothing secure about the material world and its glitz and glamour. It is here today and gone tomorrow. This is why Jesus told his followers that "Man cannot live by bread alone, and that it is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh has nothing to offer." He was simply saying that we need a strong spiritual foundation, in order to live a meaningful and abundant life. Far too often folks put their hopes in transitory and temporary things, not realizing that they are only deluding themselves into thinking that they are securing a better reality for themselves. We will even base our choices and decisions on hearsay, gossip and rumors, without doing any deeper investigation to determine myth from reality.
At the age of 65 he was convicted of a felony and went from being a devoted husband, father, and grandfather to being a prison inmate. His first stop on the way to the federal penitentiary was a county lockup, where he shared a cell with a career criminal. "How long are you down for?" he asked. "Seven and a half years." "You'll do four and a half," he said with an air of certainty. "But my lawyer told me you have to serve at least 85% of any federal sentence." "Not anymore. Congress just passed the 65% law. Obama has already said he will sign it." The grandfather's heart soared. Only four and a half years away from his family! He couldn't wait to get a telephone and call his lawyer. When he finally did, he was brought up short. Talk of the 65% law had been around since he was in law school, the lawyer said. It was just an old jailhouse rumor. He has since heard many such tall tales of drastically reduced sentences. For a time he wondered how anyone could be cruel enough to float such a rumor. Now he has a theory, summed up in two words: false hope! Is it truly an act of cruelty to create, for a brief moment, the illusion of hope where none exists?
Oppressed people seem for some reason to be more vulnerable to false hopes and illusions! We tend to waste our time, energy and resources in vain on the illusion that something will change or improve whether we actively do anything to change or not! We put our false hopes in the government, in the fairness of others, in the ability for right to rise above wrong. . . We put our false hopes in opportunistic politicians, misguided preachers, in doomed relationships and in superficial or mundane pursuits. When you begin with a spiritual center, all those other things will flow naturally from a place of inner contentment and trust, because you are open to the higher path that connects you to your divine purpose in GOD. When you acknowledge your spiritual essence, you align yourself with divine will, allowing your life path to link with the divine order you were born into. When you nurture the spiritual self, you come to know your best self! So remember, to always build your hopes on things eternal, by learning to live in closer communion with GOD.
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