AND ALL THESE VANITIES!
Vanity of vanity, says the preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity ( Eccl 1:2) and chasing after the wind! The definition of vanity is very simple. According to the Oxford advance learners it states “ the quality of being unimportant, especially compared with other things that are important”.
The preoccupation of man with sensual pleasure, his craze for material wealth, his lust for power and recognition, are all the characteristics of our modern age and an indication of man’s toil with things not important has become more than ever before. Today, just as in the days immediately preceding the flood in the bible (Genesis 6), Man’s progeny has increased greatly on the face of the earth and with population have also increased vices of all kinds.
Man’s greed has terribly risen, so that his lust, his appetite, now terribly insatiable. But what is more frustrating is the fact that man seems oblivious of his predicaments, which according to the words of the psalmist is at most eighty, for those who are strong enough- eighty miserable years spent in toil and trouble (psalm 90:9-10). Indeed, man’s problem increases as he tries to solve existing ones. I call this new age “ the age of meaningless”. Fulton Sheen call this age “An age characterized by a misplacement of values, an age of carnality that has reduced the divine image of a man to a sex organ which explains his mental processes, his taboos, his religion and even his super ego”.
Every day we see the invention of new sex techniques, different kinds of sexual intercourse ranging from anal sex to oral sex, from bestiality ( sexual intercourse with animals) to homosexuality( sexual intercourse amongs person of the same sex). Sex has become the major themes of movies, fashion, advertisement, literatures, magazines, even almost the only issue that is discussed in it. The business of selling sex has recently become the biggest market in the world today. Sex dolls are the latest where the woman personality has been damage all to satisfy man’s lust for the flesh. Man playing God recently has truly compelled womanhood to a trad-able item. This market includes the sale of contraceptives ( pills, condoms, and so on) that promises unlimited sex without responsibility( human trafficking- girls, women and even the boy child)
The issue of abortion is no more a taboo, Abortion of innocent children has also become prevalent as sometimes these contraceptive may not work hence, and abortion becomes the only solution. How I wish we could remember history. About 23,000 people were destroyed in the bible because of sexual sins (Sodom and Gomorrah). The current ‘sexual gospel’ is heralded by among other things, the increase of indecency in dressing, and the sales of pornographic papers and videos of naked women having sexual intercourse. Materialism described not simply as a love or possessions of material things, but as an undue and inordinate attachment to them.
Today, the rush for wealth is amazing, everybody wants to get rich at all cost, the rich are held in a very high esteem as no cares to find out the source of their wealth. Government officials has turned their offices as avenues for amassing public funds for themselves and their generation yet unborn as present generation of the masses rot in abject poverty. The struggle for power and recognition among individual and nations has also become the hallmark of this present age. The consequences are that people take the lives of their perceived enemies and eliminate other obstacles on their way to recognition. Hence, for many people today, politics has become a do or die affair or as others may call it a dirty game.
Human experience of vanity
Human experience about life has revealed many fundamental truths. First and most important of them all is the fact that life is itself a great mystery , its absurdity is most glaring and death a sure end. Amidst these, the real meaning of life becomes very difficult to ascertain. But of course we are nevertheless certain that the ultimate meaning cannot consist in pleasure, wealth or power as these fades away. How brief indeed is even the longest life? Isn’t it like a drop of water compared to the ocean of eternity? Has any man ever taken his wealth beyond the grave? Many people has taken it upon themselves to exhume graves in search of jewelries and other adornments which men in their conceit use to adorn the bodies of their dead relatives . What difference does it make to these lifeless bodies? What help would gold give a man before his creator?
Life not lived in God or that living in vanity can really be meaningless! God is the true and only meaning to man’s life. God’s glory in man’s life lived to the fullest. In other words, it is the duty of man to live in righteousness, recognizing God as it source and destiny. Living to please him always, A life that recognizes God as the giver of wealth even if you pursue wealth i.e work for it, such a man would find peace, joy, tranquility and serenity of life.
The gospel of vanity is not a call to inactivity or laziness, rather it is a call for all to live a purposeful life, working with the mind of advancing the kingdom of God among men because the life here is temporal but eternity is everlasting. And for Christians most especially the youths which are the future leaders should live a life worthy of Christ. Not indulging in sexual activities that do not glorify God. Resisting the pressure of the gospel of vanity and looking up to God who is our creator.
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