Bliss

When you log on to AOL you are greeted with scrolling headlines, usually three.  One is usually news related, one is usually financially related, and the third is usually entertainment or lifestyle related.  Today one of the headlines was, "Experts Say Intimacy, Not Money, Increases Bliss: Surprising Stats."  Surprising?  Is it really that surprising that intimacy is more closely related to bliss than money?  Haven't we known that for a while?  Okay, so I'm sure they're talking pretty much strictly about sex, but I think we've known the intimacy part for a while.  Paul seems to have been constantly prodding us about relationships, community, intimacy if you will.  The lectionary this week leads us to Ecclesiastes where Solomon, the man with more money and woman than Wilt Chamberlain, says, "Vanity, Vanity all is vanity."  Even Solomon discovered that intimacy is the key to bliss and not money, women, or anything else.  For Solomon it what was most important was that intimate relationship with God.  That is a relationship, while perhaps frustrating at times, ultimately leads to bliss.  Sometimes, God shares with us a glimpse of that bliss through relationships with others, with dear, beloved friends.  Now that is a beautiful sight!