As my husband and I sat and watched a TV special on the band “The Eagles” for probably the third time since its original airing 3 or 4 years ago, a comment by lead singer and drummer, Don Henley, stunned me and I couldn’t believe it had not resonated with me on a previous viewing. I looked at my hubby and repeated the statement to him and immediately grabbed my computer and logged the quote for later reflection:

“There’s a fine line between the American dream and the American nightmare.”

I’m not sure what Mr. Henley’s personal inference was with this statement but for me, I felt a tug in my spirit and I knew why.

Just for reference, I Googled “American Dream” and on Wikipedia found the following information regarding the history of the phrase. I find it very interesting:

“The meaning of the “American Dream” has changed over the course of history, and includes both personal components (such as home ownership and upward mobility) and a global vision. Historically the Dream originated in the mystique regarding frontier life. As the Royal Governor of Virginia noted in 1774, the Americans “for ever imagine the Lands further off are still better than those upon which they are already settled”. He added that, “if they attained Paradise, they would move on if they heard of a better place farther west.”

Well, well, well…the Royal Governor could be describing a lot of us today—convinced our current status, location, vocation, marriage (the list is endless) is less than it should be or could be to the point we are so discontent we don’t appreciate what we do have. In other words, believing the grass is always greener on the other side.

Discontent is defined as “not happy with your situation, dissatisfied.” However, being discontent isn’t always a bad thing. Discontentment can be the fuel for personal growth. When discontentment moves us from apathy to action to bring about positive outcomes for others and sometimes ourselves then we can find joy and meaning in our efforts. But if we are instead like the Israelites who were so quick to forget how God had guided them, fed them and protected them then we can easily fall prey to discontentment that can be devastating emotionally, physically and financially. We can find ourselves in our own personal desert looking back and realizing how selfish and careless we were with the blessings received from the Lord.

I have certainly fallen prey many times to discontentment and normally it came and still comes in the form of wanting more and better. It is so easy to look around and notice others are living in much grander homes, driving much more expensive and luxurious cars, wearing much nicer jewelry, traveling to exotic places and the list goes on. Like you, I don’t even have to leave my living room to covet. All I have to do is sit at my computer and surf the web (or Facebook) to see infinite examples of things I don’t have and places I don’t go.

However, if instead, I look around at what I do have I am humbled that the Lord has seen fit to bless my family in spite of my covetous spirit. He has redeemed mistakes I’ve made because of my short-sightedness and lack of gratitude. Are there consequences to the choices I’ve made in haste and greed? Yes. My husband and I began slowly crossing the fine line and allowed our American dream to eventually morph into a cycle of discontentment—and there, drowning in the self-made dissatisfaction, we finally came to our knees and sought the Lord and gratefully discovered the beauty of simplicity. The English writer, G.K. Chesterton says it quite well, “There are two ways to get enough. One is to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.”

Do I still struggle with discontentment? Sure. But I remind myself of what dissatisfaction can do to my sense of peace and the roads it has and can take me down and I stop—and reflect on where we’ve been and I don’t want to cross the “fine line” again and replace our God-given dreams for an enemy-driven nightmare.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

C. Deni Johnson