Emptiness: a parable
But let them not turn back to folly.—Psalm 85:9b
A rich man with many friends would host parties at his mansion. Every week people would show up and he’d have food and wine and live music. The man delighted in hosting and his friends stayed late into the night. Taxi drivers, knowing the drill, would line up at dawn to wisk merrymakers to wherever they lived. The host could hardly wait the week and began planning the very next day.
It came to pass the man met new friends. These were very serious people who had the best taste in wine and music and people. His new friends did not approve of his parties and would not come to them. At first, he laughed them off. But as time went on, he began to understand why his wine and music and food were not up to snuff. Though he was very rich, he could not afford to host all of his friends with the right wine.
Still, his old friends arrived every week and every week he let them in. But now he would sneak off with his new friends to a private room to enjoy the best drink, the best food and the best company. His guests missed him at first, but soon learned to enjoy the party without him. After a while, most had forgotten he existed or had never even met him at all.
One day his accountant came and showed him the books and complained about the expense of the parties. The rich man could not even recall why he hosted them and resolved to stop paying. But even though there was no wine and no food and no music, the guest kept coming. They simply brought their own.
Week after week the man would sit in his room waiting for the party to end. Sounds that had brought him such joy in the past left him angry and isolated. “Why,” he thought, “do these people still come to bother me? Don’t they have homes of their own?” Finally the rich man had enough. He kicked out his guests and locked the doors. But when he returned, he discovered his new friends had left him too.
