We all possess a fundamental longing for purpose.
Forever in search of why we are here, and what it is we are called to accomplish. We attempt countless varied experiences hoping one might satisfy this fundamental urge. Unfortunately, regardless of the time and effort invested, none possess the staying power. The satisfaction achieved is always fleeting.
Perhaps we’ve been handed the wrong search grid. For society has long promulgated the narrative that fulfillment is concurrent with a rise in prestige, experiences, and wealth. However through our own experiences, we now know that status, degrees, and accolades are not lasting. We have been fooled into searching for the eternal in the temporary.
From the Easter story this week, we call forth an allegory:
“In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
The women mentioned above had been going to care for Jesus’ body on Easter morning. Yet when they arrived at the tomb, the stone was rolled back and there was no body to be found. Instead they chanced upon angels who asked them this apropos question that rings true today: “why do you look for the living among the dead?”
It is a question I have been asking myself all week. For we are all guilty of searching for the living among the dead. We seek purpose and fulfillment in this world’s finite things and wonder why they fail to satisfy our eternal longings. The truth is needs eternal in their nature can only be met by that which is likewise eternal. Be it purpose, connection, or fulfillment, the only way to achieve it in any lasting sense is through something beyond this temporal world.
What ‘living’ thing are you still looking for among the dead today? Perhaps it is time we recognize it as sunk cost and and restart our search elsewhere.