On his deathbed, Alexander the Great summoned his generals and told them his three ultimate wishes:
- The best doctors should carry his coffin;
- The wealth he has accumulated (money, gold, precious stones etc.) should be scattered along the procession to the cemetery; and
- His hands should be let loose, hanging outside the coffin for all to see!
Everyone seeks happiness. Many people think that having a lot of things is happiness. However, many possessions do not make us happy. Rather, obsession with possessions makes us suffer. But also, non-possession is not happy. Happy is the one who has the ability to work, eat, drink, and enjoy life within the grace God gives.
Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand. This too is a grievous evil: As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind? All his days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger. Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him–for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work–this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
Ecclesiastes 5:15-20