Naked

"He arrived naked from the womb of his mother; He'll leave in the same condition-with nothing." - Ecclesiastes 5:15 (The Message) C.S. Lewis tells a parable about an apartment building. Rather than paraphrase it badly, I'll just give the quote:

Imagine a set of people all living in the same building. Half of them think it is a hotel, the other half think it is a prison. Those who think it a hotel might regard it as quite intolerable, and those who thought it was a prison might decide that it was really surprisingly comfortable. So that what seems the ugly doctrine is one that comforts and strengthens you in the end. The people who try to hold an optimistic view of this world would become pessimists: the people who hold a pretty stern view of it become optimistic.

I spend far too much time spiritually disheveled over things I cannot control. I will probably never experience the kind of suffering Job experienced in this life, but I could use just an ounce of his philosophy, which is echoed by Solomon. I got here naked and I will leave naked. The Lord gives and the Lord takes. Everything in between is a blessing. YOLO - You Only Live Once. That's this generation's version of Hakuna Matata I guess. Last week, I saw someone tweet that they would rather live twice and die once than live once and die twice. Scary, but Biblical! Placing all of our hopes and dreams on this short life is a recipe for mental breakdown. Sometimes God strips me naked and it is a healthy dose of realism I can't live without. I'm thankful, today at least, that He cares enough about me to keep me from my dreams when they mean more to me than He does.