Is the Grass Greener?

Beware the bovine trap of greener grass. I know you've watched it. A heifer surrounded by ample supplies of coastal or alfalfa, stretches and strains through angry wire in order to get at what remains just out of reach. You've also watched it played out in the human arena: Marriage, Business, Family, Friendships. Not satisfied with what lies at hand, we grope toward what will never be fully ours, or if by some twist it becomes ours, will never satisfy. What Nancy C. Anderson calls the "Greener Grass Syndrome" is an addiction that destroys joy and service. Thankfully, there is an antidote for this lure of the other. That powerful potion is uncloistered by the word "enough." This moment is enough, you are enough, I am enough. Christ is more than enough. Why is contentment important? Or, is it?  Actually, it's essential to everything that matters. Satisfaction with the grass on my side of the fence is the very thing that allows me to recognize the needs on the other side. Buechner reminds us:  

“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” 

The resolution of my lust is the beginning of all selfless ministry.

Satisfied

I am satisfied with my life. That may not strike as much of a confession, but it is the grandest expression of living I've ever known. While some may see in satisfaction a resignation, an acceptance that life will probably never get better-just glad it isn't as bad as it once was, I see it as the highest possible enjoyment. No longer my own worst enemy, life has ceased turning in on itself.  As the Apostle once remarked, "godliness with contentment is great gain." To be satisfied is to be free from regret and unbothered by uncertainty, far removed from fatalistic acceptance and more akin to the secure confidence a child finds in a parent's arms. I am not implying that nothing remains to be done or that I have no room for improvement, far from it. What I am stating is that this "place" in my life is a pleasant vantage point from which to view all possible vistas.