For what does it profit a man?

What are we really losing our souls for?

Sadly, or actually, thankfully, many of those in business or the workplace find themselves in the position where the value of everything they have given their strength and attention to, in order to earn what they make a living from, is now being called into question.

For what indeed does it profit a man that he should gain the whole world, but lose his soul?

Having mastered whatever needs mastering and having scaled the heights of their careers and academic achievements; having dedicated time, effort and finances to their singular pursuits – neglecting friends, family, and sometimes even personal comfort, they reached the zenith of their careers and aspirations. Some attaining great title and even accolades in the process. Only to look around them and finally see the scattered and distorted reality of a world that does not make any sense. A world they neglected to attend to on their way up ‘the ladder of success’. And now, firmly ensconced in the spaces of their choosing and making, they realize that their marriage is a shambles; their children are strangers who are trapped in a virtual reality, with neither solid foundation nor strength of character to guide or uphold them, let alone play a role in building or sustaining the society around them; the society at large seems to be going crazy with twisted values and mindsets; their government has become a monster that has decided to trap the bodies and souls of men in a form of slavery to the global system; their employer (or business) is contributing to the mess; and there are things going on worldwide that are, quite frankly, disastrous for the global populace. That lofty place these individuals think they hold, it turns out, is right at the bottom of the pit, along with most of the rest of mankind.

How on earth did this ever happen? How did they miss this? They ask themselves. Well, simply put, what they prioritized became the singular focus of their life’s story, and therefore of their life’s journey, and now what they are dealing with is the fruit of their choices to embrace some things and neglect others that they deemed as being of less significance. They have gained the entirety of their dream, achieved the highest heights of their aspirations but they have lost the totality of their life’s purpose and have contributed to the corruption of everything around them in so-doing, by failing to participate in the real reason they are here on earth.

Sincerely speaking, most people in the world barely have a clue as to who they are, or why they were even born in the first place. They have never taken the time to engage with that aspect of their life’s journey, choosing instead to go with what looks like the flow such as: academic excellence in a specific field that ‘eased’ them into a specific career path; pregnancy that ‘got’ them into marriage; connections that ‘facilitated’ access to a club, a house, a car; and on and on, committing time and resource to this happenstance with great determination and dedication. And they settled into it believing this was the sum of the plan for their lives. I would even venture so far as to say that they forced themselves to believe it, choosing to silence that ‘little’ voice inside that told them otherwise. I’m sure of it.

Zig Ziglar is quoted as saying that “Little men with little minds and little imaginations go through life in little ruts, smugly resisting all changes which would jar their little worlds.” And we wonder how evil tends to prevail on earth? For every man or woman who has created a nuclear weapon, there is another who has created a bigger, ‘badder’ one. What does this mean? The people who have their hearts set on destruction are not truly able to think beyond that level to the possibility of what would require actual work and investment in order to transform, heal and give life instead. So, they play in their little sandboxes of mutually assured destruction insisting that is the only way in which to maintain balance on earth. Using the threat of death and annihilation as the instruments with which to keep one another in line. While, behind the scenes, they go to work on yet bigger and ‘worserer’ weapons in order to retain the dominant position for purposes of greater global manipulation. That, really, is the total summation of what ‘international relations’ have been.  If it is not nuclear threats, it is the very real threat of coups, the spread of disease, the destruction of an economy, the assassination of a leader… All negative. All small-minded efforts to control something that they do not actually have control over. Behind the scenes of these global-facing activities are scientists, engineers, salesmen, marketers, CEOs, janitors, drivers, all of whom are part of the system of global terrorism and control. They are fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters who are all compromised or compromising the global environment as they pursue a stable income and the fulfillment of their personal aspirations. Blind (deliberately or not) to the outcome of their decisions to participate.

Foolishness loves company, it seems. The world over, regimes have chosen to deploy fear as a weapon of choice to control the people who are meant to be under their stewardship. Thinking that they can actually control an instrument of darkness and use it to bring forth light. Sounds like something out of a Marvel movie plot, where the villain or a mistaken good guy believes that darkness can be his friend. While it may work, for a time, to bring people into subjugation to something, it will not be long before the people grow weary and choose to fight back. Man was not created to live under the oppression of fear. Those who are in charge of running the affairs of state know this, but they push it as far as they can to try to get their way for as long as possible. This is unfortunate. For, in the final reckoning of things, the responses of the people may even be fueled by anger and frustration. The things that are done by an angry people who are fueled by the fear of unjust control over their lives can yield results that are so much worse than the original attempts by governments to control their people. But governments know this, that is why they invest in anti-riot equipment, and other weapons. To protect themselves from the outcomes of their own foolish and evil choices.

The way of love

Why, instead, can we not just do what most people try to do  in their own homes? Smooth things over by working past ego, fear, anger, mistrust by humbling ourselves, making amends for past wrongs and genuinely doing what is right in order to ensure that each one only receives what is best from our hearts and minds? What is really so difficult about the world changing tack in that way? Think about it. If the world is run by people, and we claim that it is, then why can the people not work out a way of actually getting along and doing the things that benefit one another instead of smiling and shaking hands in pretense, while holding guns behind their backs, ready to shoot to kill? Is it really so hard to change the reality on the ground? Or is it just a lack of willpower that is holding people back or are we dealing with humans whose souls have been sold to the devil?

Try as I may, I just cannot imagine that there are people who long to live in a perpetual state of chaos. Even the worst crime lord and the worst warlord on earth needs a place to lay his head and wants to find a way to protect his children and family from harm. Even America, which has singlehandedly committed or instigated some of the worst crimes on earth against other nations and its own people, goes to a place of grieving when its soldiers are killed in battle. Science also claims evidence of the negative effects of continual stress on the body and mind of the individual. Meaning that, at our core, we are actually looking for ways in which to have a measure of equilibrium that does not result in harm by one person against another. So, why don’t we go for it? Don’t say it is not possible, ask why it has not happened with all the trillions of dollars supposedly being pumped into so-called peacekeeping initiatives around the world decade after decade after decade.

Ask why it has not happened with all the weapons that exist on the earth that seem to increase day by day. Ask why it has not happened with all the supposed information surplus that exists that would help people learn about the issues and be able to adjust their positions. Ask why it has not happened when the communities on the ground do not wish to dwell like animals, hunted by their own who seek their own destruction. Ask why it has not happened when you do not desire all the madness that you see going on around the world to keep being sustained. Is war and instability that much more profitable for men than peace is?

A time will come when one evil character will rise up on the international scene and actually find solutions for all of these issues that mankind is facing now, and they will be put to rest for a time. The accurate response then will not be to turn and praise him for his brilliance, but to ask why all the PhDs, all the Masters’ degrees, all the undergraduates, all the diplomas, all the billionaires and trillionaires of this world, all the willing men, women and children who were tired of all of these things, all the politicians of our day could not achieve such a thing in their day. Or, rather, to ask, what prevented them and what is the significance of their seeming resolution presently. But I digress.

My point is this. Mankind is engaged in trivial pursuits that do not add one drop of value to what is really important on this earth. As they amass wealth, position and title unto themselves and pat themselves on the back for all their ‘great achievements’ the real things that need doing, go undone. This leaves society far worse off than before. Far worse of, even, than if they had never existed – because they were called to be an answer, a solution for something that needs their expertise and their specific mandate in order for it to be resolved. However, when they live distracted lives chasing after money or the approval and acceptance by others, then they fail to understand that they have far greater value to God and men than just these transient and useless things. For what does it profit them to gain the whole world’s approval and honor, when the thing for which they were actually created and born goes awry and is never actualized as it was intended?