Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

What's the hymn that Mick Jagger sings? "I can't get no satisfaction.  'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try...."

Yep.  That should've been the song of the prodigal son (Luke 15).  He wasn't satisfied with his father and his home.  He asked for his inheritance from a not-dead-yet father.  But it turned out that didn't satisfy him either.  Nobody in the far-off country cared about him.  He was hungry; nobody fed him; nobody shared.  Nobody cared.  He couldn't even be satisfied by eating the pigs' slop. 

When we cannot find satisfaction, we search.  We might try different jobs, different toys, different friends, different homes, different who-knows-what.  We are constantly bouncing from one thing to the next: maybe the next place/thing/person will finally please us, satisfy us, fulfill us. 

But it never does.

We keep trying.  Even with [or because of?] the speed of new technology and the vast luxuries available to Americans, yet we keep finding that the Greatest New Thing (tooth whitener, iPhone, or gaming system) didn't bring us the pleasure it promised.  Even with [or because of?] the plethora of fun entertainment available, we are bored.  Even with [or because of?] the ease of casting off uncomfortable relationships and starting new ones, we cannot settle down in fulfilling relationships. 


Augustine said:

"The heart is restless

until it finds its rest in Thee."

Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none on earth I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  (Psalm 73)

Thou art the portion I have sought.
Thy precious blood my soul has bought.  (LSB 708)




Logically, it doesn't make sense to keep fighting against the one thing --the only thing-- that can give joy, satisfaction, fulfillment, love, pleasure.  And yet, we see the rebellion all the time.

Kitchen Dancing

"Have you practiced this week?" the dancing instructor asks each week.  No, we haven't.  It's hard to practice when we don't see each other much. 

The local rec league offered ballroom dance classes, which some friends wanted to take.  But alas, too few couples enrolled; the class was in danger of being cancelled.  So they went on a recruiting mission.  That's how Gary and I ended up in dance classes for January and February.  Because of his mom's death and his dad's surgery, however, Gary missed two of the first four classes, and we're still playing catch-up.

So this week, we have [gasp] actually SEEN each other.  Y'know, been in the same place at the same time!  And we've looked at our cheat-sheet, tried to practice, and hunted up you-tube instructional videos to refresh what I couldn't decipher from our class notes.

Poor kitty.  The kitchen floor space is a whoppin' 5x10' area.  Rosie is wandering around the kitchen, begging snacks, looking to be petted, and she ends up getting bumped, trying to escape, and heading right back into the path of where we're ostensibly dancing.  Who would've thunk it would be hard to foxtrot and tango in 50 sq-ft of space?  With a cat tango-ing betwixt your feet? 

Righteousness

Righteousness is nothing else than believing God when He makes a promise. 

(Luther, on Genesis 15:6)

Based on Sunday's sermon, I think this phrase might be Pastor's new favorite-saying for the upcoming weeks or months.  I love it when he finds gems like this and makes sure we get it.  Aaaah.