'Leaving it all behind': Life, possessions and eternity

There is a somewhat apocryphal tale of two men talking at a reception after a funeral. One man asks the other, “What did our friend leave?” The reply was: “Everything”.

We can be so eager to acquire transitory things – money, possessions, reputation, status and the list is endless – that we forget that this planet is only temporary in the light of eternity. It is easy to fall into the mentality once expressed in a bumper sticker: “The person with all the toys wins”.

The mentality of “having it all now” is most clearly seen in secular materialism, which has been found to be so unfulfilling. It can also be exhibited in some religious practices, including Islam which prizes itself on taking over territory (which will be no more at the end of time), or in liberal “Christianity” which promotes practices that satisfy particular sexual needs now.