For What Profits A Man If He Gains The Whole World But Loses His Own Soul

Christians of the western churches celebrated Easter five weeks ago. At midnight tonight Orthodox Christians light candles around the world to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. And most of the rest of the world will go on with business as usual.

For those of us who are Christian it is important to stop and reflect on what being Christian really means. Today two billion people classify themselves as Christians but do most of us really dedicate ourselves to living Christian lives? The answer is clearly no. The world that we live in is full of distractions and pleasures that pull us away from a spiritual life. Even our jobs which are a very necessary and important part of our lives can end up being the altar at which we pray. They consume most of our waking hours and provide the income on which we are dependent in order to take care of our families.

We spend more time at cinemas, theaters, art galleries and theme parks than we do at churches, and they have become our new cathedrals. We can spend hours at any of these places of entertainment but if church service goes on too long we get impatient. We love to listen to music and to dance the night away much more often than singing hymns to our Lord. We pay more to watch a football, basketball or baseball game than we leave in the tray as it is passed through the pews.

We care more about money, honors, fame, glory, recognition, entertainment, physical gratification and a myriad of other things than we do about enlightenment, spirituality and peace in our lives. Yet even when we are satiated with the good things in life we often find ourselves feeling empty. Something seems to be missing.

Many people turn to yoga, gurus, "feel-good" seminars legitimately looking for ways to fill the empty void it their lives. Others turn to alcohol, drugs, or prostitutes in their search for ways to either deaden the pain or find a source of intimacy that is missing.

Yet none of the above will provide the sense of peace for which we are all searching. Only a connection to God can provide that ultimate peace. And for Christians our path to God is through Jesus Christ, the son of God. His resurrection is what we will celebrate tonight when we light our candles. And through His resurrection we have been given the hope of salvation.

It is important for those of us who are Christian to remember that our physical lives don't last forever. Our souls will last an eternity, and thus we should place even more emphasis on the health of our souls than the health of our bodies. The later is important to nourish but our souls also need nourishment, and that nourishment is love. We need to love and be loved by others. And since God is love He is the ultimate source of nourishment for our souls.

A hundred years from now very few of us will be remembered by anybody living at that time. So if we focus all our attention on the successes of this world what will it have gained for us. When we die our money, fame, and honors will be meaningless. We own nothing in this world. Everything we think we own is in reality only being loaned to us until we die. And on our deathbed at the moment of death, no one but God can save our souls.

The happiest people I have ever seen are often times those individuals who have very little in the way of material comforts or public recognition. They were people I met in trailer parks when running for public office, or nuns and monks who had given up everything in order to follow Christ. They had a sense of community and fellowship.

On the other end of the spectrum were the billionaires, famous actors, and elected officials that I met throughout the years. They clearly loved their work and excelled at it. They had achieved the spoils of this world but yet most of them were not at peace.

I lived much of my life in the world of business and politics gaining wealth and a modicum of fame. Was it exciting? Yes, of course, for a short period of time. But when I lost my last political race that world came to an end and at the time I considered it a tragedy. However, the good news was that out of that loss came a rebirth.

I became an Orthodox Christian after spending time in a monastery in Greece, and I joined a church that became my home away from home. And on the back wall of that church was an inscription that changed my life forever. It said: "For what profits a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul". If I had won that Senate race I might well have gone on to "gain the whole world" and lost my own soul. Looking back that would have been the real tragedy. My prayer tonight is that we will all find love and peace in our own lives so that we can focus our attention on helping others rather than just ourselves.

Comments

[TomZart]

THE HORNETS of HELL


The hornets of hell swarm from their nest
Overwhelming all the victims they can.
To sting as many souls as possible
In their destruction of the glory of man.

They murder, rob, rape and plunder
While provoking the meek to submit.
They lie, deceive and mislead
And depend on the world to forget.

Eager to enhance their numbers
They are the cheerleaders of disgrace.
Their agendas of sin must be stopped
For the betterment of each race.

Endless is God"s test of time
To measure man"s spiritual worth
Unwholesome deeds tempt us all
Festering in the repugnance of earth.

The hornets of hell are on the hunt
In all directions by day or night.
The Armor of God shields man"s soul
And gives us our resolve to fight.

The champions of heaven in rapture await
To see who will stumble and fall.
They watch us struggle, in our world of woe
As they pray we will heed, God"s call.

Fools declare we must hide from view
And leave the hornets of hell alone
But when we ignore the liabilities of life
The failings of man become, our own.


By Tom Zart

[situationcritical]

Speaking of losing your soul Michael, are you still a republican?

[aceholiday]

interpretation isn't proof

[totalliberal]

There are too many things to do, see, and maybe even, if I'm lucky, accomplish in my short lifetime. As I'll only be here for this one experience, I do knot wish to waste that time on my knees.

Is there a reason why, by my expressing this belief, that you feel you are being attacked or assaulted in any way shape or form. If so, it would be your problem not ours.

[joanndarc]

Most Christian denominations in US, aside from Lutherans are distant from Orthodox Christianity, thus the publication is likely to be misunderstood.
Orthodox Christianity is lacking autoritarian power structure, so unlike Catholic chirch and it's derivatives....

[mamacat]

Some people find religion and use it to seek wisdom. Some people find religion and use it to spread death. Glad to read that you have chosen to seek enlightenment. Whether or not you find what you are looking for, your journey will likely be a rewarding one.

[Dap]

I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show let me do it now; let me not be deferred nor neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.

[Romulus]

Yoga IS a connection to God. It comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "yoke" or "union" and the various yogas are designed to attune oneself with the Almighty. Christianity is not the only path to God, Mr. Huffington.

[wondering]

Don't waste your breathe. The article is clearly written by a committed True Believer.

[HeevenSteven]

;-)

[FOTH]

Please be happy in your faith and by all means do your best to live according to Jesus admonishments of treating others as you would like to be treated, and to love your enemies and your neighbors.

However, please stop believing that "assaults" are being made on you. If people disagree with your beliefs it is not an assault, it is an opinion. Christianity doesn't have rights. Christianity is a belief system and people either subscribe to it or do not. I'm ok with you being a Christian as long as it stays with you and your fellow believers. As for me, please allow me to believe what I believe and voice opinions that may disagree with Christianity and not have it termed an "assault".

[Quaoar]

After reading this unadulterated christurbation I feel a need to gain peace:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/there-is-no-god-and-you-_b_8459.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-dawkins/why-there-almost-certainl_b_32164.html

That's better. Now I know the ultimate peace than can never be gained by wasting years of one's life praying to a nonexistent higher power.

[StanCohen]

Why would praying to a power you believe in, even if it turns out to be nonexistent, be anymore a waste of time than anything else. If you believe, it seems like praying would be a highly satisfying activity in itself even if no one answers.

As someone who believes the mysteries of the universe are far beyond our ability to comprehend, I do find the intolerance of the God-deniers, to be as obnoxious as that of the fundamentalists.

[wondering]

An old canard.

And if you lived in the 1860s, I suppose you would find the vehemence of the abolitionists as obnoxious as the slave owners. If you lived a little later, you would find the anger of the suffragettes as obnoxious as those that would deny women the right to vote.

Paradigm shifts are painful. Although atheism is as ancient as religion, each of us comes to a point in our life when we must face up to its implications for the first time.

Are opinions offered in the Huffpo comments really the equivalent of intolerance? When you lose your job, or find it impossible to get elected to political office, or are shunned by your neighbors, just for believing in an invisible man, come tell us about the intolerance of atheists. When we start imposing our personal beliefs, adopted from a 2000 year old primitive torture story, on you (i.e., laws regarding the right to choose, gay marriage, stem cell research, and tax breaks for our organizations), then you come tell us how intolerant we are. When atheists force women to live as second-class citizens or undergo hideous genital mutilation, then you come talk about intolerance. Until then, I don't want to hear about how our WORDS have harmed you.

[HeevenSteven]

I'm with Dap: Bingo!

[Dap]

)))))))))))) B-I-N-G-O (((((((((((

[recless]

It is not intolerant to challenge people"s beliefs; it is only intolerance when one challenges their right to those beliefs. I only have to respect their right _to_ their beliefs, _not_ the beliefs themselves. As a nonbeliever, I"m perfectly happy with people challenging my beliefs and the reasons I have them. If they try to challenge my right to them, that"s different. Christians in this country keep whining about God being kept out of public discourse. However, what they fail to realize is that to have God in public discourse means that views opposing the idea are just as valid as those supporting it.

[MerlinJames]

Just curious...

...but if your confidence lies with the two links, why would you waste your time convincing others that peace exists only where YOU find it....if YOU really know what peace is? And why would you dispute one person's peace over another's? If a fellow human finds peace and harmony staring at, and worshiping snail darters, why would you be concerned?

Wasting? What is waste if you question other people's peace? Spending time on a computer, questioning people's peace sounds wasteful. But that's just me. Hardly at peace. Always questioning.

It sounds like you are the one struggling....yes?

[wondering]

Maybe Quaoar hopes for something better for human beings. Maybe Quaoar recognizes that slavery to the irrational is a tragedy. Maybe Quaoar sees religion and god as dangerous and counter-productive.

Your comment is empty. Rather than defend religion or god, you take acception with the idea that any non-believer should bother to speak out. We who reject the notion of an invisible sky-daddy love humanity. We want to see our fellow humans break the chains of insanity and become truly sentient. You would rather we sit on your hands and accept that human beings will always be ignorant, backward savages - anthropomorphizing the universe because it makes us feel good.

[MerlinJames]

...and what do atheists do on Sunday...they go to a building that looks a lot like a church and do what millions of believers do. Are they ignorant, backward savages?

Sunday school?

http://www.ethicalhuman.org/

[MerlinJames]

Your general statements proclaiming YOU know what would make a better world is telling. Out of 6 billions people on the ball, who are you to have such wisdom to make a sweeping statement that all believers are ignorant, insane, backward savages?

I admire your ego and belief system that permits you your narcissistic self back patting, that your way is the way for all humanity to follow...anything else is a waste of time.

Yikes. Good luck with that vision.

[Gibbons]

When the disciples asked Christ what kind of faith they should have he replied "The faith of a little child"
that was brought home to me when my wife died my neighbors little girl was crying her eyes out when through her sobs she asked "Did did Miss Alice go to heaven"? when her mother said yes the tears dried up immediately and she said "Good now she can play with Jamie" Jamie was a sister of hers who had died shortly after birth. We seem to lose that faith as we get older.

[totalliberal]

[Gibbons ]


So what you are inferring is that we should all remain in a childlike state of bliss and ignorance? No, I don't think I will. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[PioneerKing]

So now you understand how A.H. can be so strong.

Peace be with you.

[HansUnfeit]

Good for you, Michael! I, too, am a devoted Christian and hate the assaults that have been made on us by unbelievers!

For the life of me, I don't fathom how that wonderful hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers" has appeared to have become somewhat unfashionable, especially today. Thankfully, at our church it is still sung loudly and stridently.

Pax, bro!

[LumberingOaf]

"I, too, am a devoted Christian and hate the assaults that have been made on us by unbelievers!"

Sorry for being too intelligent to believe in your "invisible friend".

Just trying to make the world a better place, by pointing out the silliness associated with organized religeon.

[ptillen]

I'm continually amazed by the fact that non-Christians think it's OK to bash someone else's spiritual choices in this incredibly arrogant, patronizing way. Disagree by all means, but don't cheaply insult. Contrary to what you might think, it does nothing to make the world a better place. It just throws around more crap.

[wondering]

What kind of feeble, milquetoast comment would be acceptable to you?

The truth is, you don't really object to the TONE of the comment - you just don't want to hear ANY anti-religion comments, period. 'Fess up.

Allow me to reiterate a reply I gave to another poster, above: When atheists deny someone a job, or reject their candidacy for political office, just for believing in an invisible friend, then you can cry foul. When atheists impose their irrational beliefs - based upon a 2000 year old primitive torture story - on the laws of the land (i.e., regarding abortion rights, gay marriage, stem-cell research, the teaching of evolution in schools, and tax exemptions for their organizations), then you can point out unfairness. When atheists force women into second-class status or perform genital mutilation, then you can accuse us of intolerance.

Until then, I don't want to hear about how our WORDS have hurt you. No matter how vehement or nasty an atheist's post on Huffpo may be, it is just a written opinion - unlike the PHYSICAL harm True Believers do to our world every day.

Believe me, the truly venomous comments probably do not get through the Huffpo filtering process anyway.

[totalliberal]

Sorry, don't see any bashing going on. Questioning maybe. Is that OK with you?

[timinhi]

I have an invisible friend too. His name is Larry.

[Gibbons]

Larry would be visible if you looked over the top of the stall.

[Dap]

What's his last name? >:-)