There's more

It completely takes us off guard when we hear of the death of young people. Our reaction is compounded when the young are talented, liked, and/or wealthy. What's even more bewildering is when these young, talented, liked, and wealthy people engage in behavior that results in their death. Heath Ledger, 28, was young, talented, liked and wealthy. He had all the things I wish I had, but will never have. Yet he, by many accounts, was looking to fill a void deep within. He looked for peace.

Britney Spears makes headlines every night. She is out late with this guy. She is in Mexico with that guy. On one hand, who cares? But on the other hand, it is sad when the whole world watches in slow motion the decline of a young, talented, liked, and wealthy person. The Associated Press has even written her obituary in preparation for her young death. Would you be surprised? She, too, is looking for something. There is a void.

How many names can we come up with - celebrity or not - that had everything...they had it all by so many standards and yet they lived life searching for anything that would fill the void so gaping in their soul. Money doesn't do it. Things are insufficient. People, while nice, ultimately fail. Fame, prestige, influence...they all fade. It's not enough.

Yet there are simple, poor, unknown, uneducated, and unattractive people that wake up each morning and close their eyes each night with peace. For they know, as the chorus of our faith sings, that there is only one thing that will truly fill us with what we desire. God.

As our world spends so much time and effort trying to acquire more - we discover time and time again that all the things are irrelevant. It's the giving of everything - ourselves, our time, our resources, our hearts - to God - that we find ourselves rejoicing in abundance.

There is so much more out there. But it's not what most people think.

It's true.