Vanity: A Cosmic Claustrophobia

We were created in the image of the Living God, and men have an insatiable desire for knowledge, an appetite and drive to know and come to terms with the world in which they live. Men have a compulsion to know the character, composition and meaning of the world, to understand the purpose and destiny of the world. But it is more than just the material world; men have in their makeup the compulsion to know how things in this realm of life work in relation to the realm of eternity. The knowledge of eternity is in the heart. There is a sense of infinity while living in finite bodies.

Society is on a quest for more than this world can offer. We hear all the time of “extreme sports” we see things advertised as the “ultimate experience,” the “ultimate thrill” and men and women coming out of these experiences with a rush of adrenaline describing it as “out of this world.” This is the quest they are on and this is the quest that keeps the illegal drug industry afloat. Men and women and young people are trying to “escape” from this life, but ironically still hold on to it.

But the more they think they have control the more they realise that they are boxed into a world that does not satisfy, that they are locked in a world that they cannot control; humanity is suffering from cosmic claustrophobia.

Our restless spirit yearn for Thee
Where're our changeful lot is cast
Glad when Thy gracious smile we see
Blest when our faith can hold Thee fast
Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153)