Lovers Of This World

            Humans are complex creatures; we laugh, we cry, one minute we can be filled with delight then as the mood shifts we can be deeply annoyed. We have the ability to think, learn, find solutions to problematic situations, and we have a wide range of talents and gifts. I also postulate that we possess the amazing capability to bring to memory anything we have heard, seen or done; if the right procedures are taken and satisfactory conditions are met to retrieve this information—no wonder the field of psychology flourishes. Psychologists are paid handsomely to study why people think, behave and express certain emotions as we do, with good intentions of course, hoping to bring about positive behavioural change for the good of all society. I do not pretend to know everything there is to know about why people think the way the do, and I would never want to be involved with this type of study, but what I have observed while being part of the human race is that people generally think and behave the way they do so that they can fulfill a particular need in their life. I see that peoples behaviour is a result of the need for personal gratification, they seek to find satisfaction in their life because they believe it gives them a sense of worth; people crave to be recognized as being someone important, to themselves and everyone else. I am sure that this result has already been concluded by those who study the soul but one cannot help but notice that people often are motivated by reward, what they are going to get out of any and all experiences. People will do what makes them feel good and conversely will not do if they do not get any personal satisfaction out of it. Is there anything wrong with this behaviour or is there some other way the human should function?

            Often I come across the path of certain types of individuals whose sole purpose in life is to just live for pleasure, they look forward to the next tingle up their spine, and they seek out whatever activity produces that warm fuzzy feeling that ultimately will release endorphins in the brain resulting in a euphoric high. When they experience an extended period of time without this euphoric energy they get depressed, will seek to change their lifestyle, thinking that change will bring with it the sensation of that constant high on life feeling. Their thoughts begin to convince them that life owes them something, because their focus is not on anyone or anything but their own existence, it does not matter that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, only that they get what they desire and lust for. Everyone else can defend for themselves as long as the pleasure seeker acquires every ounce of sensual gratification, self-satisfaction, and every morsel of delectation they can possess.

            The phrase, lovers of this world, is an appropriate epithet to adjoin to this self-gratifying attitude, because this type of behaviour seeks all that it can from this world not realizing that our existence in these bodies of flesh are but for only a short time, and after that comes eternity. I understand that the human mind has been conditioned to seek ones own self interest, a worldly environment teaches mortal man that he must get all that he can out of this life because life is short. Many people believe that this life is all they have, when you are dead you are dead, there is no more, so why not live life to its fullest, eating, drinking, partying until exhaustion will not allow you to function any longer. Lovers of this world are blinded, they cannot see past their immediate existence; they just refuse to believe that there is more in this life than just their own conquest of internal euphoria. The fact of life remains, and here is an important point to consider: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1Jn.2:15-17, KJV).