One day, I was laying prostrate in my room praying, and God began to speak to me. He said
"It grieves me that you can walk into a clothes, and stand for 15 mintues deciding what you will or will not where when there are people on the other side of the world who don't have a 2 pair of shoes to wear. Your identity is NOT found in what you where...your identity is found in me!"
That really hit and convicted me. Where I came from (Brooklyn...holla) fashion is everything. Unless you don't have the latest Jordans on your feet, your a nobody. However, in the midst of my college experience, God began to deal with me about this and make it plain to me that part of my identity was found in things that have no real value. Qoheleth would call it vanity. I loved the response that people would give me when I'd come out my room with something fresh and costly every day. It made me feel good, affirmed me. I found myself thriving off of that attention until i'd wait so long to decide what to put on in the mornings that I'd be late for class. I wanted to fully into the anointing of God with bypassing this issue in my life, and God called me on it.
How many of us have this struggle? I know I did. But, in the midst of that I thank God that i was able to go to the Phillipines and see real poverty. I was able to see what it's truly like to live in the slums and not have clothes, nor running water. It shocked me, and now...my identity isn't found in what I wear, but in whom he's has made me to be through what his son has done.
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ReplyDeleteRichard Cory by Simon and Garfunkel
ReplyDeleteThey say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town,
With political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born into society, a bankers only child,
He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style. 5:10
But I work in his factory 2:11
And I curse the life I’m living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes:
Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show.
And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht.
Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he’s got. 5:18-20
But I work in his factory 2:17
And I curse the life I’m living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head. 11:9-10
But I work in his factory 4:4
And I curse the life I’m living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
Ecclesiastes 2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2 :17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor will he who loves abundance, with increase. This is also vanity.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 Here is what I have seen: it is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it—to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 rejoice, o young man, in your youth , and let you heart cheer you in the days of you youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from you flesh.
This song was written in the 60s by Simon and Garfunkel, and it is based off a poem called Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington. The song basically tells the story of a wealthy and intelligent man who had everything a person could want, and yet he was not satisfied. The people of the town envied everything he had, wished that they could be like him, and wanted to gain the wealth he had acquired. The people thought that wealth would bring happiness. However, the Richard Cory ended his own life, and this shows that all the riches, wealth, and giving of his riches were not enough to make him happy. He did not take joy in life as God instructs us to and he did not take pleasure in the things that God gave. Although he made some attempt, he found these things to be meaningless and empty. Proving once again that we need to embrace the gifts of God and embrace the life that has been dealt to us.
The envious working class in the song relates to Ecclesiastes 2:17, 2:11, 4:4. Verses 11 and 17 tell that working and toiling is vanity, and this is what the working people feel. They feel that they are working and laboring for nothing, and there labor does not produce the wealth that others have. Therefore, in verse 4:4 the working people are envious of the rich man, for they believe that wealth can bring ultimate peace and happiness. Certainly, these people needed to remember that we are to be satisfied with the life that is given, for they later find out that riches is not all that it is cracked up to be. In verse 5:10 it tells that riches can never satisfy like God will satisfy. Richard Cory finds that riches cannot bring happiness, for was not able to find fulfillment and satisfaction in his wealth. Also, verse 5:18-20 says that we are supposed to except the life God has given. In Richard Cory’s case, he was blessed with wealth, but he could not find happiness through that source. Instead of thanking God, Cory ends the life that was blessed. Verse 11:9-10 stands as the attitude that the people in this song should have attempted to uphold towards life. All else should have been forgotten, and the individuals should have loved and lived the life God had given. Instead of complaining, engaging in sorrow, or partaking in wealth, life should be lived to the fullest in a Godly fashion. Neither the wealthy, or the poor won in this case, for God was not included in the big picture.
Edwin Arlington Robinson. 1869–
. Richard Corey
WHENEVER Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed, 5
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace: 10
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, 15
Went home and put a bullet through his head.