Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Gaining the World

I was listening to a playlist on my iTunes entitled Troubadours that has music from Neil Young, Bill Mallonee, Bob Dylan, Mo Leverett, and Edwin McCain, and The Lost Dogs. This song by Dylan came on entitled "Masters of War". The song obviously deals with his opposition with war in general and perhaps specifically the escalating nature of things in Vietnam (original release was early 1960s), but it has some piercing comments that grabbed my ear. One verse of the song challenged me to reexamine my own thoughts about money and material possessions.

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

We live in a culture full of greed. We bas our society on the American Dream that has morphed into the American nightmare of debt. People are selling their souls for money and stuff that won't mean a thing when they die. Is it worth it? Didn't Jesus ask "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his soul?"

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