FLEETING FANCIES
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity. – Ecclesiastes 1:2
She had beautiful straight hair that I envied. She didn’t need to comb it after shampooing. All she had to do was run her fingers through her hair and it dried into silky-smooth tresses.
I need to mousse, blow-dry and perma-freeze mine.
So I was aghast when I saw her one day with hair that looked like broom bristles. They were dead — murdered by an inept hairdresser who had rebonded her hair. “Rebond? You? Why?” I was perplexed. She had wanted straighter hair.
She said, “The Lord probably did this to me so I will learn a lesson.” She was so sad I had to bite my lip from blurting out, “The Lord had absolutely nothing to do with it. But I’ll bet He allowed it just for that insight.”
Sometimes, we need to be reminded that the worldly things we want are meaningless. Is it greater beauty? More money? Prestige? The list goes on. But as the passage above says, everything is fleeting. And because of that, we have to focus on things that are eternal — a gorgeous soul, loving relationships, good character… These are the things that last. Lella M. Santiago (mirellasantiago@yahoo.com)
Reflection: How much value do you put on temporal things? In contrast, how much time do you spend in the pursuit of spiritual matters?
I choose You, O Lord, above all the pleasures of this world.
St. John Vianney, priest, pray for us.
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