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Don't Chase What is Fleeting · The Slippery Slope

• 0:09
  So a word that kept coming to my mind over the last
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  couple of weeks is fleeting. I've
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  been thinking a lot about this and how I've heard
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  this word used and what it means to me. You
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  see we've had news headlines lately which seem
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  more gruesome and chaotic than the usual, such as
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  the stabbings at Bondi where we had six victims
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  brutally stabbed to death in a shopping centre. We've
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  had the attempted murder of Bishop Marmary Emanuel while
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  he was taking his service. Then
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  you've got the war in the Middle East which seems to
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  be escalating to a frenetic pitch, which seems to be
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  dragging more nations into its wake and governments
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  that were once unwavering allies of Israel seem to
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  be falling away. News headlines are a constant
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  reminder of how short life is and how easily it can
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  be taken from us. And yet while I'm going about
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  my week, whether it's in the real world or the
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  online world, what I've seen is that people are
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  attempting to push the chaos away and focus on
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  things which seem to be fleeting. To
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  me it seems people are all about the instant
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  gratification, anything which distracts them from the
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  murders, from wars, the general chaos that is
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  currently permeating our world. Thus
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  I've been thinking about this world fleeting and
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  specifically not to chase after the things in this
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  world which are temporary, but instead to maybe
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  embrace the long term. Don't
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  chase after short -term satisfaction rather than
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  placing so much emphasis on making money just so I can
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  buy a new toy which I don't mind and find
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  momentary satisfaction and relief. Instead
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  of doing that, embrace the things that I have in my
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  life which are far more important, things like
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  family, friends, all the people that I love and all
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  the things in our lives which can leave a lasting
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  legacy rather than the temporary pleasures which
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  quickly are fading away. Just
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  recently I've had the pleasure of singing with my
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  cousin, Aletheia, who I hadn't seen for a long
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  time. And Aletheia actually wrote and
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  featured on a song that I recorded way, way back on
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  my first album which is called Closer and I
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  recorded that released it in the year 2000. So
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  long time ago, 24 years ago. The
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  song is the Bible verse Psalm 39, 4 to 6. And
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  the lyrics are, Lord, make me to know my end and
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  what is the measure of my days that I may know how
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  frail I am. Indeed, you have made my days as
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  handbreds and my age is as nothing before you.
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  Certainly every man at his best
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  state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about like
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  a shadow, surely they busy themselves in vain. He
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  heaps up riches and does not know who will gather
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  them. And when I've been contemplating
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  the words to this Psalm and I actually allow myself
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  to think of how short my life really is, which in
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  the vastness of eternity is, it is just a vapor as
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  the Psalmist wrote. I was also reminded of the
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  words that Jesus says in Matthew 16, verse 26. He
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  says, for what profit is it to a man if he gains
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  the whole world? But he loses his soul. Or
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  what will a man give in exchange for his soul? And
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  he also says in Matthew 16, do not lay up for
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  yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy
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  and where thieves break in and steal. But
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  lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
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  neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves
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  do not break in and steal for where your treasure is.
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  There your heart will be also.
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  So I want to encourage you to
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  go and remind myself to let go of the frivolous,
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  the things in life that only bring short term
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  satisfaction. Remember, our lives are fleeting. As
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  we've seen, we're constantly reminded by these new news
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  headlines that our life can be taken from us any time
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  it is fleeting. It is but a vapor. So
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  embrace the people that you love. Chase
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  after the things in this life which will leave a
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  good and long lasting legacy and lay up for
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  yourself treasures in heaven. I'm
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  Jay Fallon. Thanks for listening to The
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  Slippery Slope.