Fleeting Pleasures
Posted in Entertainment, The Historical Faith on 08/06/2009 12:30 am by Ronnica
I’m a big fan of romantic comedies, but if I watch another movie where hedonism (the search for pleasure) is the final answer, I might scream.
I already talked about how sex isn’t everything. Well, on a related point, neither is pleasure. The adage, “Do what makes you happy” might well define our culture, but that doesn’t make it right or true.
I think for any of us who have tried to follow this (and I think most have at one point or another) find that the pleasures that we seek never fully satisfy, are never enough. Just like the alcoholic wants one more drink, and Rockefeller, one of the richest men of his time, says that enough money is “just a little bit more,” we want “just a little bit more” of whatever we’ve determined will make us happy. If it’s someone, we might smother them. If it’s something, we might poison ourselves or drown ourselves in debt to get it.
Instead of pursuing my own pleasures (and I’m more than willing to admit that I do that all too often), I’d rather seek to obey the greatest commandments:
” ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” – Matthew 22:37-39
And perhaps I’ll stick to 24.
Photo by mandj98
