Black hole living
May 29, 2018
I have always been interested in astronomy. I dabbled briefly with majoring in astronomy in college until I realized the amount of calculus and physics that was required. Hello, political science! An incredibly interesting feature of our universe is the existence of black holes. A black hole is defined by Wikipedia as “a region of space-time exhibiting such strong gravitational effects that nothing—including particles and electromagnetic radiation such as light—can escape from inside it. The boundary of the region from which no escape is possible is called the event horizon.” Black holes are incredibly bright because of the light features known as accretion disks, which are made up of gas and dust that heat up and give off light as they swirl into the black holes, like water swirls around the sink before going down. Astronomers suspect that quasars, the brightest objects in the universe, contain supermassive black holes that release extraordinarily large amounts of light as they rip apart stars. Can you imagine gravity so powerful that it can rip apart stars?
The largest black hole ever found is 12.8 billion light years from earth, is 12 billion times more massive than our sun, and is 429 trillion times brighter than our sun due to the quantity of stars and other galactic matter that it is tearing apart and swallowing. Our brains can’t even comprehend that kind of distance, mass and brightness. A black hole has an insatiable appetite. It can never be filled. It will never stop swallowing anything that it draws into its gravity. Its hunger is never satisfied.
As I thought about this, I thought about myself, and you, and Solomon. Solomon was the wealthiest and wisest man who ever lived. He wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is about the meaninglessness of everything “under the sun”, apart from God. We work to acquire stuff and we pass it on to people who may squander it when we die. We search for human wisdom, but Solomon says that with wisdom comes grief. We search for pleasure, but it lasts only a moment, and leaves us empty and craving more. Solomon testified that he denied himself no pleasure. He indulged in women, wine, work projects and everything else his vast wealth could purchase, but he found it all to be meaningless. Poor or rich, death and judgment await everyone just the same.
Solomon lived the kind of life none of us will ever live. It was a life of excess, materialism, abundance and decadence. Everything he wanted he had. He lived a black hole life, acquiring and consuming everything that he could pull into his gravity, hoping that it would bring him happiness and satisfaction. At the end of his life, Solomon finally learned the secret to a satisfied life. It is not found in wealth, women, wine, work, or wishing for more. Happiness is found in knowing God and appreciating and accepting whatever God provides each day, and being satisfied with it, so that a man may enjoy his labors under the sun.
At various times in each of our lives, we have all probably lived black hole lives. We wanted to enjoy every imaginable pleasure. We have wanted to acquire more and more stuff. We wanted to have more than the next guy so we could feel better about ourselves, believing that “the one who dies with the most toys wins.” I pray that we have all reached the stage of life that we recognize that black hole living is meaningless. In the end, you will become more empty as a result of the things you acquired than you were before you had them. You will become more depressed as you realize that a black hole life is never satisfied. A black hole life never has enough. It always wants more. At the height of his wealth and power John D. Rockefeller was asked “How much is enough?” He answered, “One more dollar.” That’s so sad, but that’s insatiable black hole living.
Whatever material thing we think might bring us happiness, Solomon had it, and much more. If these things did not bring Solomon happiness, they won’t bring us happiness either. True and lasting happiness is not found in the amount of stuff that you have. True and lasting happiness is found in knowing that you are loved by God, that Jesus died on the cross so your sins could be forgiven, and that eternity with Him awaits you. Do you know that today? The only arena where we should continue to be black holes is in our appetite to know and love Him and His Word better. Solomon would say to you, “Enjoy your family. Eat a cheeseburger. Love God and learn to laugh at yourself.” Everything else truly is meaningless.