Finding Peace

In the attached Sesame Street youtube clip, Herry and Grover are trying to explain the difference between here and there to.  The little pink character is having trouble understanding the words.  It was “here” and he wanted to go “there”, but when he got to the place he wanted to go it wasn’t “there” anymore, it was now “here” and the original “here” was now “there”.  When you think about it in those terms it is a little confusing.

 

Dr. Seuss told of a similar dilemma with the “Star Bellied Sneetches” .  They were very proud of the stars on their bellies, because many Sneetches didn’t have stars on their bellies, and so the stars made the “Star Bellied Sneetches”  very special and envied.    A young entrepreneur came to town one day with a special machine and for only a small amount of money the plain bellied Sneetches could get a star tattooed on their bellies making them part of the “In” crowd.  While this was popular with the plain bellied Sneetches the star bellied Sneetches were angry.  So………………they paid the same enterprising fellow a handsome fee to remove their stars so that they could be different again. 

We always seem to want what we don’t have.  Dave Ramsey has summed up much of the world with this quote: “We buy things we don’t even need with money we don’t even have to impress people we don’t even know”

In Philippians Paul tells the story of being in Jail.  He shares that he is OK either way. If he lives it is good, if he dies it is good.  He can see the benefits of both. He is not dependent on something external to create his peace and joy, he has already found it in his relationship with Christ.  Many of us look there for what is already here.