“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind.”
Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Chapter 1. Originally
published in 1854
A grim description of life indeed, especially since when these words were written the world was on the cusp of the Industrial revolution when there seemed to be few limits on the advancement of mankind.
Almost 175 years have passed. We have witnessed the bloodbaths of the Civil War, World War I and World II. Human beings have killed more of our own kind in less than two centuries than during all the rest of recorded history combined. Incredible technological advances have led to increased prosperity while at the same time there is an ever creeping, widespread and deeply ingrained apathy settling in the souls of men and women. Indeed, Thoreau may have been right – what is described as emotional resignation to the grayness of life, could well be the desperate realization that life offers little meaning or purpose.
In the midst of this psychological fog blazes the brilliant alternative of Jesus Christ. In a discourse called the “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus set forth his manifesto for human life. It is nothing short of the most radical revolution humanity has seen. In no way is it a comfortable life. It is the opposite of the all consuming “meism” so many worship today. It requires effort. It demands sacrifice. But the life which Jesus Christ offers is nothing short of mankind’s highest calling.
Join us this weekend for one of our worship services. Maybe it’s time to start on the road less traveled.
Weekend worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm – Sunday:
10:00 am
