I was reading a revealing and intimate Rolling Stone magazine interview with TV star Don Johnson (Miami Vice, Nash Bridges) when one quote struck me hugely.
“I remember a seminal moment, standing on the back deck of my ranch in Aspen. I’m a big star, I’ve got all this s..t, airplanes, cars, boats, a stream running down by my house and I’m going ‘Wow, this is really f…ing amazing. Why am I so miserable?’ ”
Then I recalled something from The Time of my Life, the biography written by movie star Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing, Ghost) and his wife, Lisa, before his 2009 death from pancreatic cancer.
Looking back at the life-transforming success of 1987’s Dirty Dancing, Swazye wrote, “When the thing you’ve been fighting for is suddenly in your grasp, it’s all too easy to look around and say – is that all there is?”
What fascinates me about these quotes is both men achieved exactly what our world says is the pinnacle of success. International fame, good looks, adoring fans and endless financial riches were theirs. As if that was somehow inadequate, Johnson had all the women he ever needed and Swayze had a rich, life-long marriage.
So what’s the deal with these puzzling quotes? How could these men be thinking such crazy things when our culture insists they couldn’t possibly need anything more?
Let me venture to write that our culture is dead wrong. No matter who we are are or where life has taken us, we DO need more – even more than the love of a spouse and family.
Where am I going with this? Consider these words, written more than 300 years ago by Blaise Pascal:
“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
Think that’s just crazy talk from some dead guy who didn’t know much? Um, Pascal was a mathematician, a physicist, a philosopher, an inventor and a writer. According to Wikipedia, he invented the mechanical calculator, the hydraulic press and the syringe. So it might be time to revise that opinion.
Beyond Pascal’s resume, consider how, all these centuries later, people like Patrick Swayze and Don Johnson are continuing to prove him right.
So what about you…Do you figure more money, a promotion at work, a new house or a ‘significant other’ upgrade will make everything good? Maybe it’s time to seriously ponder what Pascal said. Post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.
Frank's Cottage 
There is definitely a hole in our hearts which only God can fill. without Him, we are lost and drifting in a world which values wealth over spiritual wholeness.
Blessings, Frank!
Thanks for reading and for your kind comment, Martha. Much appreciated! 🙂
I completely agree. Everything and everyone in life will disappoint us, because our love is not perfect, only God’s is. “My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you” (Isaiah 26:9, in the Bible).
Good point, Jennifer. Thanks for reading and commenting. 🙂
Really great article. There seems to be endless examples of this, yet we all still charge around looking to be satisfied in worldly ways. For an extreme example of this, read a section of the Bible called Ecclesiastes, where the author said the same thing. Even though he had truly done everything, possessed everything, wine, women, song, commanded everything, etc., it still did not cut it!
In a church sermon I heard long ago I have always remembered one phrase related to this topic: “you must choose contentment, rather than seek contentment”. If you seek it you will never find it, but rather be on an endless quest for more. Perhaps the only way to “choose it” is by asking for God’s help, by letting Him into that God-shaped vacuum.
But it is so so hard! Totally counter to this world. If you listen to most marketing out there, it is pretty comical. Future Shop: “I want more”. Sears the family store: “More than you came for”. There are lots more of these examples.
So the huge challenge is how do we truly let God fill that vacuum so that contentment occurs in our lives? Even King Solomon (the writer of Ecclesiastes) struggled, as did Pascal and everyone else, so at least we have good company.
Paul, you always have great stuff to say (or write!). Thanks for weighing in on this topic. 🙂
Solomon had everything and he discovered it was all vanity. The whole obligation of man is to fear God and keep his commandments.
Racnem, if that was the “whole obligation of man”, then I would not have become a Christ follower.
I think all you need is love. That’s what Beatles sang long ago and is it true. Thank you.
Thanks for your comment. The interesting thing is, Don Johnson and Patrick Swayze had love. And it still wasn’t enough.
I have heard that quote many times but I never knew that it came from Pascal. And I cannot tell you what if feels like to have fame and fortune and adoring fans. But contentment? For me it’s when I have traction. When my efforts do not seem meaningless and spinning in the sand. And that happens when what I do is aligned with God’s purposes in my life.