Step Beyond the Fake of the World
Sep 25 2019
Living agelessly teaches me…
to step beyond the “fake” of the world.
The world, i.e., the culture in which we live, is constantly bombarding us with what is fake. Oh, I’m not talking about political “fake news”; I’m referring to the messages of darkness the world “teaches” us over and over and over. Let me give a few examples of the type of “fake news” the world pumps at us relentlessly.
- I must be well-known and liked… fame.
- I must seek a life of ease… comfort.
- I must run my own life; captain my own ship… power.
- I must seek the most pleasurable, convenient, self-centered life… pleasure.
- I must have lots of money so I can have lots of things… wealth
- I must live a life of excitement, adventure, travel, moving, etc… excitement.
This list is almost endless; it’s the unwritten, but clearly exposed “messages” the world sends us like thousands of internal emails every day. We are drowning in them, and most of us are not aware at all.
The problem with all this is that it tends to backfire on us. Our pursuit of worldly success can all too easily begin to control us. The “directives” the world gives us can darken our soul.
- Fame can morph into gluttony… I need more, more, and more.
- Comfort can morph into laziness.
- Power can morph into envy.
- Pleasure can morph into lust.
- Wealth can morph into greed.
- Excitement can morph into anger.
As the process of darkness progressively unfolds, we lose our way; we measure our success by the world’s yardstick; the world captures more and more of our attention; we become mesmerized... “brain-washed” by the world. We lose our most noble bearings as children of God, and become worried and driven children of the world. We never discover our fresh agelessness, and instead become faded and “old”.
The spiritual curriculum of our Illumination Years (65+) is to “wake us up,” have us take notice of what is true (not fake). Living agelessly means we can divert our focus away from what the world “preaches” and swing it toward the truth.
It’s only in the truth of Jesus where we can find solace in living a life of simplicity, perseverance, integrity, faithfulness, gratitude and inspiration. These are the building blocks of living a life “Ageless in the Lord.”
Yours in Christ,
Richard P. Johnson, PhD