A dying man entrusted each of his closest friends – a lawyer, doctor, and priest – with an envelope containing £25,000 to be placed in his coffin. A week later, after the man’s death, his friends each put an envelope into the coffin. Several months later, the priest confesses that he only included £10,000 and sent the rest to a mission in Africa. The doctor admits that his envelope contained only £8,000 because he donated to a medical charity. The lawyer is furious: “I am the only one who kept my promise to our dying friend. I want you both to know that the envelope I placed in the coffin contained my own personal cheque for the full £25,000.”
A promise is often seen as a key part of our human relationships and interactions. Sometimes a promise is made clearly and explicitly, but more often it is hidden behind other words. When we see or hear an advert, it suggests we’ll be happier or our life will be more comfortable thanks to a new purchase. Many books have enthusiastic reviews quoted on the back cover, promising the best and most interesting content ever. Sadly, sometimes a newly bought item or service doesn’t turn out to be exactly what we expected; for example, we bought “the fastest broadband in the market” and then realised that they probably meant a flea market.
There is a similar, often subconscious, problem with self-advertising. Many people, particularly young women and men but not exclusively, promote themselves using make-up, clothing, or behaviour—anything to attract someone else’s attention. This requires considerable effort and can sometimes be quite costly. Eventually, they find “their other half”, get married, and no longer need to advertise themselves because they have found him or her. OK, I’ve probably upset everyone here, so let’s move on.
Have you ever felt disappointed or bitter because of a broken promise? I bet you have. Everyone has, many times. Sometimes we show our dissatisfaction openly; other times, we let our anger simmer inside. Regardless of how we do it, we often blame others – a spouse, a neighbour, politicians… That can turn into a blame game. In many cases, we should only blame ourselves – or more precisely, our expectations. We claim to face life realistically, but in reality, we approach it with idealism. We want to see people and things as better than they truly are. And eventually, we discover that the person or object doesn’t meet these expectations. Yet, as adults, we tend to blame anyone or anything but ourselves.
Unfortunately, some people develop unrealistic expectations of God. They believe that being a believer would make their lives pleasant, smooth, and easy; they think their faith would shield them from pain and suffering. But they soon realise that life is generally quite different – often much more challenging – than they expected. Consequently, they blame God. Interestingly, Jesus never promised his followers a nice, smooth, and easy life – instead, he warned that they would face more problems than before. However, his promise for the future was eternal life in heaven.
We have been given a ‘voucher’ for eternal life. But we need neither a doctor, a lawyer, nor a priest to put it in our coffin in an envelope. Do it yourself. Keep it in your heart.
