Quantity, Quantity, ever the lure of possible happiness.
Quantity, Quantity, ever the temptress of future fulfillment.
Quantity, Quantity, ever the trusted cure of profligateness.
Quantity, Quantity, ever the salve that truly is permanent.

And so I begin the discussion noting the ironic, shape-shifting quality that quantity fulfills as it resides in our mind. And let me assure you that it resides in the mind in abundance. (How about that for irony!) I considered ranting and raving about American society and its unhealthy obsession with quantity, but as I pondered the issue I began to realize that the problem goes much, much deeper than that. Perhaps America has an acute problem with quantity, but the quantity obsession is something I believe has plagued humanity throughout history. It is amazing to think that is true when the solution is so brutally simple. Simply repeat after me and say, “I have enough!” Well perhaps it isn’t quite that easy. You have to repeat those words and actually believe them at the core of your being. And so we chase the ever elusive Shangri-la… contentment.

Oh! where to begin? Here are some lyrics from a U2 song which beautifully express the solution and the problem at once. It hits so close to home it’s scary. “Don’t believe in excess. Success is to give. Don’t believe in riches, but you should see where I live.” So money is the obvious bogeyman. Hebrews 13:5 states it well, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”" This verse leaves me really questioning is God alone comfort enough for me. On good days yes, on others I’m sad to admit no. But the problem only gets worse from here. Money has a sinister companion, time. Let us examine the parable of the rich fool. I love that title. Isn’t there something about it that just instantly makes you think of someone. I mean someone else. Someone you know or have heard about. No, of course not you! It can’t be you, can it?

Luke 12:16 - 21: The Parable of the Rich Fool
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

This week I had an epiphany that much of our focus and the focus of the medical community is on the quantity of our days and quality of days is focused upon after that. This is exactly the opposite of God’s plan for our life. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” This is the abundant life with which we should have an obsession. However many or few days there may be. So join with me in battling the quantity obsession (it’s the fight of my life!) one quality day at a time.