Naming animals only gets you so far

When God told him to name the animals, Adam found out they didn't have what he really needed. So God gave him Eve. But Adam had to name the animals in order to make this discovery.

Careers are like that. Many assume that a fulfilling career equals a fulfilling life. But I suspect a lot of people haven't found this to be true. And I'm talking about people with good careers, ones that they named early in life, and pursued with gusto. For my part, there were times when I was very driven to accomplish professionally. Some results have come to pass. But why do I feel like Adam naming the animals? There's something that is not here in the mix ...

So what do you want to be when you grow up? A lawyer? A sportscaster? God may well let you name your choice. But his aim is not to show you that a career will give you all you need. It is to show you that a career will not give you all you need.

Vacations are like that. Some people live for vacations. But have you ever heard that song about the bear who went over the mountain to see what he could see? And all that he could see / And all that he could see / Was the other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountain / The other side of the mountaaaaaaaain ... was all that he could see.

So, name where do you want to go for vacation. The Great Wall? The Hawai'ian Islands? You name it. But if God blesses you with a vacation, it may be to show you that what you really need is somewhere else.

I think trucks are like that (see yesterday's post). The need to haul dirt and logs and other grimy things has produced real works of art: I think those new Toyota Tundras are beauuuuuuutiful. But if I had one, I wouldn't dare haul grimy things around in it -- which is what trucks are for. My wife says I'd like a powerful truck because I have the illusion that "it would be good for my loins." I wonder what she means by that ...

So do I want a Tundra? An F-150? A ram rough truck? I can name it, but what I really need won't be in that truck.

St. Augustine once said: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in YOU."

But he had named a whole lot of animals before he was grown-up enough to say that.

Logos2Go

Genesis 2.19-23 So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

Augustine, Confessions, Book I, Section 1: "...for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee..."