Five years ago I came to believe in Christ’s teaching and my life suddenly changed; I ceased to had previously seemed to me good seemed evil; and what had seemed evil seemed good. It desire what I had previously desired, and began to desi on re what I formerly did not want. What happened to me as it happens to a man who goes out on some busines s and on on the way suddenly decides that the business is unnecessary and returns home. All that was his right hand is now his left, and all that was on his left hand is now on his right.

That confession comes from the pen of a famous writer of all times, who after a thorough reading of the Gospels made his own reality check and decided to bid goodbye to his pursuit of fame. Coming from an aristocratic and wealthy family he had everything he could desire but found that all that did not yield the satisfaction he was looking for. Of the earthly life he had lived after the ways of the world, he agreed with the author of Ecclesiastes: ‘Vanity of Vanities; all is vanity!”

The late Malcolm Muggeridge , a celebrated author and journalist who dominated the media scene for a good part of the twentieth century. He was an agnostic and socialist to begin with and admired the Soviet system when he was posted as a correspondent in Moscow. But he was thoroughly disillusioned soon and in his dispatches to the West predicted the downfall of a system mired in lies, oppression and propaganda.

He visited the frail Mother Teresa in the then Calcutta, saw her work among the destitute and was thoroughly impressed. In fact it was he who made her famous throughout the world. The man of the world soon discovered the wisdom contained in the Gospel and began to see reality ion its pages. A keen observer of human affairs and human nature, he made a statement bordering on divine wisdom:

‘man’s efforts to make himself personally and collectively happy in earthly terms are doomed to failure…’

I recall that a couple of years ago there was excitement all over, over the gold medal victory of master shooter Abhinav Bindra in the Olympic games in Beijing. On his arrival in Delhi he answered many questions from the media and some of his observations on his success reveal a mature approach. He had remarked:

“It was a sort of emptiness. You climb the mountain and there is nothing at the top. When you work so hard to achieve something and you get it at the end, there is a feeling of emptiness. But then life goes on…’

The other day I happened to read about a man who wanted to win a place in the Guinness book of world records by drinking maximum amount of water. Unfortunately he collapsed in the effort and died. Now and then newspapers bring to our attention such daring deeds undertaken to draw attention and ending in disaster.

There is also the current story of men with drive, driving themselves to insanity and ruined health in their mad ambition to succeed. It is the brain washing of a materialistic society and prodding of the competitive spirit that sends many a young man early to his grave!

It is a psychological truth that for a person, the pleasure of anticipation is more than the pleasure of actual realization of a goal. Many of us might have dreamt of heavenly experiences on reaching the top of a career. The less fortunate ones watching close by are overcome by envy while the successful ones are overcome by a sense of emptiness. This is what is termed in Biblical language, “vanity of vanities—all is vanity!”

Dreams begin in the prime of life and their fulfillment take up a good part of man’s waking life. Yet it happens that very few of them could claim as in fairy tales, ‘they lived happily ever after.’ Once they thought heaven lay in the supermarket access to which is through credit cards. Somewhere along the line they learn that the joys brought in by earthly possessions, fame and power do not last or fail to bring in lasting satisfaction.

You have wanted many things from life—an enviable pay packet, a good home, a great family. You had yearned for all these long ago and when you came to possess your dreams you are struck by its ordinariness. When Alexander the Great had come to the end of his conquests, he is said to have lamented that he had not any more lands to conquer.

Some scriptures speak of life of this world as ‘nothing but a pastime, a momentary delight.’ It is but empty bragging. It is like the vegetation that flourishes after rain and is a source of delight to the farmer; but soon it turns yellow and withers away, crumbling into worthless waste.

If anything, it is our materialistic bragging that has made success , a matter of life and death; as if only rewards and honours make life worth living. In the race for being the Number one, many stake their all only to end it all in the grave. Ralph Waldo Emerson reduced success to ordinary terms: ‘To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to find the best in others; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived... this is to have succeeded.’

Albert Einstein, with his scientific genius, could see the truth behind what the world trumpets as success: “ A successful man is he who receives a great deal from his fellowmen, usually incomparably more than corresponds to his service to them. The value of a man, however, should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.”

The adventure is in the journey, not in the destination. And they say it is not winning or losing, but how you have played the game that matters.

This is not intended to be a message of gloom but to the reality that man’s spirit refuses to be satisfied by mere earthly glory. The late Malcolm Muggeridge, a close observer of human nature stated it succinctly in wisdom that borders on the divine:

“We are so made and the restlessness within is so evident that we appreciate the profound truth uttered by St Augustine,“Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee…”

Many years ago Rudyard Kipling made a commencement address at McGill University in Montreal. He said one striking thing which deserves to be kept in remembrance. He was warning the students against an over-concern for money, or position, or glory. He said: “Some day you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor you are.” That has happened on a grand scale. All because Jesus had cared for none of these things. And for nineteen centuries he has led many people to see how poor they are with only a collection of things to show for their journey through life., and no spiritual resources.—In His light , they saw light. And if we care we too can.