Fortune Cookie Friday: Be Good, and You Will Be Free.
I didn’t think much about it when I pulled the fortune for today’s post last week. I set it on my desk and promised to write about it after Easter. Much has happened in the world since then.
Fortune: Be mischievous and you will not be lonesome.
The fortune sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I heard the words. After a quick search on the Internet, I found the quote I was familiar with: “Be good, and you will be lonesome.”
Today’s fortune is a parody of Mark Twain’s quote from the dedication of his book Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World. The late Jimmy Buffet used the same quote in the lyrics of “That’s What Living Is to Me.”
You can listen to the song below:
I never thought a virtuous person would be lonely. Yes, good people are sometimes called prudish or boring. Some also think good people don’t have fun, but that’s also false. Jimmy Buffet wrote, “Be good and you will be lonesome. Be lonesome and you will be free.”
The premise is that if we are good, we are free. We are free from sin, the things that shackle us to this Earth, from the lies we tell ourselves.
What about our original fortune? Would someone who is mischievous never be lonesome? If we are mischievous, we are probably doing something wrong. Plenty of people engage in bad or improper activities.
Look at the world around us these days. Narcissistic consumerism has rotted our souls. We are told that we can be beautiful, popular, and better than ever if we buy the next best product.
Depression is on the rise. People are rewarded for their victimhood instead of their character and merit. We are supposed to believe everything people say, even compelled to speak against the truth, or we will be ostracized.
Wars and destruction blanket the planet. From Ukraine to Israel to Haiti to our own city streets, there is division and death. We are shouted down if we don’t side with the right people. Worse; we are attacked for trying to protect ourselves or our freedoms.
Our world is full of sin and sinners, so we’re in good company. We should ask ourselves, is this the company we want to keep? Are we all so lonely that we would forgo our morals to find companionship?
Luckily, Jesus died for our sins. Christians around the world celebrated this glorious act this past Sunday. We spent 40 days of fasting and prayer to bring us closer to God, reliving the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.
I never once felt lonesome while I strive to be a better person. I always had my family and friends for support. Giving up material possessions or negative attitudes wasn’t easy, but it freed me from the chaos in the world. Putting that principle into practice is what living in this world is supposed to be.
So, as we journey beyond Easter, we should continue putting aside hate, desire, and lies. Try living the rest of the year as we would during Lent. We are not alone in this journey; many others will walk the road with us. Freeing ourselves from sin will only make the journey easier.
