All That Glitters ......
"These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
- 1 Peter 1:7
We also saw the devastation that can come from natural events. The fires were so bad that we could not see parts of Yosemite National Park. We never made it to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon because the smoke was blocking the view of the lake. And one day, we accidentally drove through an area that had been recently devastated by fire. As a matter of fact we could still see some flames. We had to wait for a little over an hour to continue on the road we were on. We talked to a man behind us that said he lived in the area. He told us they were only opening the road three times a day, and we were just lucky enough to be there only an hour before it was opened in the late afternoon. He told us about people losing everything ...property, cars, houses, even pets. When we finally got to drive through, we saw this:
We had never seen the aftermath of such a fire before in person, and it was very humbling. We could still feel the heat radiating off of the parched ground. A whole lodge reduced to rubble. Wow.
To me, however, when looking at man made landmarks on our trip, I was struck by two things. First, things aren't nearly as glamorous as they are proported to be. For example, Chinatown in San Francisco. In the latest issue of AARP magazine, there is an article about Chinatown and all the wonderful things to see there. Most of the pictures you see look something like this:
I have been in that same spot. Let me tell you from my perspective there was nothing fabulous or glamorous about it at all. The streets were dirty, the stuff for sale along the store fronts was junky and cheap , the people looked unfriendly and annoyed. I didn't like it at all. However if you were going by the article alone, Chinatown in San Francisco is the place to be.
After we returned home, the news media reported the death of Hugh Hefner, Playboy Magazine founder. To hear the media tell it, his life was glamorous,intriguing , a daily event of all the best things in life. He had it all....wealth, women,happiness. But google him, and you can read stories that will curl your hair. Stories of perversion, debauchery, the list goes on and on.
Hefner had quite a lot to say during his lifetime. In an interview with the New York Times in 1992, Hefner was asked about his impact on society. He said,
" I am most proud that I changed attitudes toward sex. They nice people can live together now. That I decontaminated the notion of premarital sex. That gives me great satisfaction." Later he was also quoted as saying , " It's perfectly clear to me that religion is a myth. It's something we have invented to explain the unexplainable."
One commentator on Fox News, when talking about what people were saying about Hefner always living on as a legacy said something that stuck with me. He said , "Yeah, he will live on burning in hell from the millions of men he enabled to be addicted to porn and the millions of marriages he helped destroy."
As time goes on, more and more of the attractive, glittering, desirable things in life seem to be crumbling. Maybe it's just that I'm getting older and learning more each day about the things that are truly "gold" in life. And I know this for certain. One day, all will know what is truly gold:
"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father."
-Philippians 2:9-11
I don't know how much time is left, either individually for myself or for the world as a whole. But I do know this. When that time comes, I can say I know what is REAL gold. Until then I know where to cast my eyes and thoughts. That gold will not disintegrate before my eyes, or turn to dust in my hands. It's a glitter that's real.
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