My Birthday
Mood:  not sure
Topic: My Birthday
Today is my birthday. Generally, I don't care for birthdays as I see them as pretty meaningless. After all, I had no say in when or how I was born! Nonetheless, it is a time to reflect on what has and has not been accomplished to date. As a result, I am continually reminded of a quote by Plutarch who described the reaction of Julius Caesar upon his reading of the exploits of Alexander the Great:

"It is said that another time, when free from business in Spain, after
reading some part of the history of Alexander [The Great], he [Julius
Caesar] sat a great while very thoughtful, and at last burst out into tears.
His friends were surprised, and asked him the reason of it. 'Do you think,'
said he, 'I have not just cause to weep, when I consider that Alexander at
my age had conquered so many nations, and I have all this time done nothing
that is memorable?"

Too true. I weep today.

But then, I am also reminded of the following quotation:

"Fifty, seventy-five, a hundred years from now it will make no difference what kind of house I lived in, which stocks I owned, or how large a bank account I accumulated, the model car I drove, the education I received, the titles I held. What may make a difference is how I influenced children to be concerned, respectful, loving citizens of the nation, world, and Church."---Anonymous

And as the Bible says, "...Consider yourselves dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus." ---Romans 6:11

Such thoughts helps. But still, the siren song of vanity is hard to resist.

Such is the vexed lot of Christian man.