Arrr

 In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean there is a scene where the Pirate Captain Barbossa hosts his captive, Elizabeth, for dinner. A sumptuous feast is set before her and he encourages her to eat. 

Ravenous, she stuffs food in her mouth hungrily until she notices he is not eating. She then assumes the food is poisoned, but it is not. Barbossa watches her eating, perhaps hoping for some vicarious satisfaction. But for Barbossa and the other cursed pirates, there is no satisfaction, because they are undead.

When moonlight reveals the pirates' true condition as animate rotting corpses, Barbossa laments, "For too long I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starving to death and haven't died. I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea..." Hearing his anguish, you actually feel pity for this horrible man. But lately, I've realized that I actually know exactly what he's talking about. 

In Ecclesiastes 1:8, Solomon, not a pirate--rather one of the richest, most powerful, most honored men in the world at the time proclaims: 

All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. (ESV)

When I have a delicious bowl of ice cream I really enjoy it, until it's gone. Then I just want another one. The same is true when I finish a great movie or book, get a back rub, hear a favorite song, etc. 

I enjoy working. When the work is done, I can stand back and enjoy the accomplishment. I might even get a compliment. But in the end it doesn't really mean anything in itself, unless it involves helping someone.

Relationships are the only thing that matter. Jesus told us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love our neighbor as ourselves. It seems so simple, so obvious. But, like Barbossa, I've had to try it my way until I really learned it.

And I never could have learned it without Jesus, because he turned my heart of stone into a heart of flesh, so that I am even capable of love at all.