By Si Yu
A Thought-Provoking Conversation on a Train
One day, I went on a trip. On the train, I saw outside the window rows of poplar trees flashing by, and fields of golden wheat, not far away, were waving in the wind. Seeing all this was very pleasant.
While I was enjoying the scenery outside the window, I heard a conversation between two middle-aged men sitting next to me. A man wearing ordinary clothes was bragging about himself, saying, “During decades away from home, I devoted myself to making money because my only wish was to provide my son with a good life, and bring glory for my whole family. Luckily, through years of effort, I have saved some money and bought my son a house. Although it was tough and tiring, I think my efforts were not in vain.”
The other middle-aged man looked like a rich man. He held his head high and also liked to show off. He said, “I’ve got two sons. One is now in university. The other is doing a post doctorate. They both show great promise. I have been engaged in commerce for decades too. I often deal with government officials, and eat and drink with them. Although it’s tiring, as long as I can make money and improve the quality of my life, and at the same time satisfy my pride, I think it’s all worthwhile.”
When the man in ordinary dress heard this, he felt a little awkward. Then he praised the rich man’s sons. After hearing their conversation, I asked them, “We live half of our lives for others, working so hard to make money for our sons and daughters and our own reputations. But what’s the meaning of our own lives?” It seemed that the rich man felt it beneath him to answer my question, but he eventually said, “Money and glory, of course.” The other man looked depressed and sighed helplessly, “When I was young, I dreamed of making big money. After I got married, I worked hard to make money for the sake of my child. I had thought that he would have good grades in school and thereby bring honor to me. But he dropped out of school at an early age. I had no choice but to continue to make money.”
Our Life Is Like a Fully Wound Clock
The exchange between them left me pondering: Each of us comes into this world, and grows from being a bewildered child to a young adult, but before we really understand the meaning of life, we are drawn into this money-obsessed society and the trend to gain fame, often without realizing it. And then we, like a newly-wound clock, keep rushing about and never stop. Everyone strives for family, children, money, fame, and although during this process there will be many setbacks, failures, and the torments of illness—or we will face unavoidable natural calamities and man-made misfortunes—we still don’t give up our pursuit for them. Until one day, when we have wrinkles on our faces and our health worsens, when we have no strength to work, we begin to reflect on what we have pursued. Like my aunt—in order to live a life superior to others, she exerted herself tirelessly to make money. After working for half of her life, she became rich, and her sons and daughters all attended universities. This brought great pride to her. But in the end, she was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer, and passed away a week later. I also exerted myself doing business for decades, wanting to be as rich as those who had cars and houses. I wanted to gain fame, and also leave a large inheritance to my son. Finally, I saved a lot of money, but I became wracked with illness. The people around me also bustle about and exhaust themselves for family, money, and fame. Looking back over these years, so many times we have gained money, material enjoyment, and others’ praise, but we didn’t feel happiness. And sometimes we even felt greater suffering and emptiness after the temporary satisfaction wore off. I have asked myself more than once: What exactly do we live for? And what is the meaning of our lives?
Words of Truth Make Me See the Light
Afterward, I saw a passage of words: “The things that people treasure are family, money, and fame, and they view these as the most valuable things in life. All people complain about their fates, yet still they push to the back of their minds the issues that are most imperative to examine and understand: why man is alive, how man should live, what the value and meaning of life are. They spend their entire lives, however long they may last, merely rushing about seeking fame and fortune, until their youth has fled and they have become gray and wrinkled. They live in this way until they see that fame and fortune cannot stop their slide toward senility, that money cannot fill the emptiness of the heart, that no one is exempt from the laws of birth, aging, sickness, and death, that no one can escape what fate has in store. … The fame and fortune that one gains in the material world give temporary satisfaction, passing pleasure, a false sense of ease; in the process, they cause one to lose one’s way. And so people, as they thrash about in the vast sea of humanity, craving peace, comfort, and tranquility of heart, are engulfed by wave after wave. When people have yet to figure out the questions that are most crucial to understand—where they come from, why they are alive, where they are going, and so forth—they are seduced by fame and fortune, misled and controlled by them and irrevocably lost. Time flies; years pass in the blink of an eye, and before one realizes it, one has bid farewell to the best years of one’s life. … Though the various survival skills that people spend their lives mastering can offer an abundance of material comforts, they never bring true peace and consolation to one’s heart, but instead make people constantly lose their direction, have difficulty controlling themselves, and miss every opportunity to learn the meaning of life; these survival skills create an undercurrent of anxiety about how to face death properly. People’s lives are ruined in this way. The Creator treats everyone fairly, giving everyone a lifetime’s worth of opportunities to experience and know His sovereignty, yet it is only when death draws near, when its specter looms, that one begins to see the light—and then it is too late!”
These words are so practical. We spend our whole life running to and fro for the sake of family, money, and fame. We hold these things tightly in our hands, but they have long ago blinded us, blocked our hearts, made us lose direction, and led us down a road of no return. Many people bustle about struggling to make a living for their sons and daughters, and after their children grow up they again get involved in looking after their grandchildren, but in the end, they receive nothing. There are also many people who devote themselves to making money, and although they get money in the end, they have no spiritual comfort. Some people even lose their lives because of overwork. We, mankind, were created by God, and our lives are given by God. However, if we think back carefully, we will find that we have never considered the big questions, such as: Why did God create mankind? Why are we alive? What’s the meaning and value of our lives? We experience pleasure, anger, sorrow, and happiness—as well as birth, death, illness, and old age—but we reach the end of our lives with these questions unresolved, leaving us with endless emptiness….
In fact, every one of us is under God’s orchestration and sovereignty. We should worship God actively, commit our fates to Him, accept His salvation, and experience His sovereignty and His work. Only when we have knowledge of Him will we not feel empty and meaningless in our life. It is like Job. He worshiped God, and walked the path of fearing God and shunning evil throughout his life. Although he was wealthy, and had great prestige, he knew all this came from God and he didn’t get pleasure from it. He was not bound by family, fame, or money and he held fast to the way of fearing God and shunning evil. Even when his body was covered in boils, he still didn’t care how others thought about him, but just took a potsherd to scrape himself while sitting among ashes. Because of Job’s obedience and reverence toward God in the trial, he was approved and doubly blessed by God; and because he submitted to God and feared Him, his life was particularly valuable and meaningful. Walking the path that Job walked his whole life is the goal we should pursue.