The New Eve - Lewis Robert [53]
Wrong.
Though born into privilege and assured of a comfortable stipend for life, Edmund had little regard for riches. Mary was dismayed by this, but even so, she believed her future was with Edmund. Thus, she began a campaign to teach him better sense. Her future happiness depended on his discovering the importance of money.
Who is Mary Crawford? She is one of the central characters in Jane Austen's celebrated novel Mansfield Park. By the end of the tale, Mary's misplaced values are exposed in a drama that only Austen could compose. As a result, Mary loses noble Edmund as well as her dreams.
What happened? Her love of money and status—the very lenses through which she meant to bring happiness into focus— distorted her perception of reality. Convinced that money was the key to the good life, Mary participated in ploys and scandals that in the end undermined her credibility.
The Pursuit of the Good Life
Mary's outlook is relevant because it is shared by millions of Americans today. Money buys happiness, right? Actually, it often buys the opposite, especially when it becomes the goal of life. Even scientists say so. Dr. Edward Diener has studied money and its relation to happiness in great detail. He summarized his scientific findings in one short sentence: “Materialism is toxic for happiness.”1
If love of money is toxic for happiness, what's the tonic? The answer: purpose. And it's a medically proven fact. Dr. William Sheldon of Columbia University Medical School reported as much: “Continued observations in clinical practice lead almost inevitably to the conclusion that deeper and more fundamental than sexuality, deeper than the craving for social power, deeper even than the desire for possessions, there is a still more generalized and universal craving in the human makeup. It is the craving for knowledge of right direction—for orientation.”2
In other words, we want to know how to do life right. Everyone hungers for a life that makes sense and is really going somewhere. But how do you get your hands on a life like this? Figuring that out is not so simple. Many people think it's life's best-kept secret. Novelist Peter De Vries once lamented that life was destined to remain a mystery: “If you want my final opinion on the mystery of life and all that, I can give it to you in a nutshell. The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.”3
We would all be destined for sorrow if that were true. Without a satisfying purpose our spirits grow weak and listless. As Johann von Goethe put it, “A useless life is an early death.” Fortunately, the converse is also true. People who've discovered purpose and meaning thrive in life. As Stephen Covey discloses in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the happiest people among us are those who find life purposeful. They live life as a great big adventure that has a meaningful plot and a rip-roarin' conclusion. Or as Christians believe … a rip-roarin' conclusion that's just the beginning of an even greater adventure in heaven.
But living a purposeful life is not accidental. It doesn't merely happen. It requires a thoughtful process through which you carefully deliberate over various life options. Then, using certain preselected guidelines, you choose the options you believe have the best potential to deliver this life to you. For Christian women, studying and searching the Bible are huge assets in this undertaking because it contains a treasure chest of proven guidelines. Still, this process is intensely personal and soul-searching. You must also open yourself. Get personal. Go deep with intense questions and brutally honest self-examination. At some point you'll have to take a leap of faith and choose what and whom you intend to live for. These become the end goals of your life—your right direction. All of life is then lived in pursuit of them. They will shape and direct who you are. They will also become the primary measurements of your progress in life. Stephen Covey calls this “living with the end in mind.”