Second Sunday in Lent

If you look to others for fulfillment,
You will never be truly fulfilled.
If your happiness depends on money,
You will never be happy with yourself.
Be content with what you have;
Rejoice in the way things are. – Tao Te Ching

Easier said than done? With all of us struggling right now it is difficult to “be content.” Yet that is exactly what we need individually and as a society.
In this era of 24 hour news we listen to a steady drumbeat about how terrible these times are, and the drumbeat becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now I don’t mean to demean anyone who has lost their job, is losing their home, or going hungry. Their struggles are real, and I am as guilty as the next person of being caught up in the gloom and doom we hear about every night.

Yet, the Tao saying reminds us all that to allow “others” and “stuff” to control our happiness is folly. How quickly as a society would we recover if we saw what was happening as an opportunity as opposed to a disaster -- an opportunity to rebuild and to be more caring of others. As individuals, if we are simply content with what we have, not obsessing about the opinions of others or money, we honor God.