Once in a while, we come across children who have plenty of toys and children’s books, and yet go to their parents and say, “I am bored.” We see college students shifting from one course to another, not knowing what career path to take, and then they say life is boring.
This attitude translates even to relationships, to marriage, and even friendships. We are at a party and deep in our hearts we want to say, “I am lonely.” What causes this feeling? What causes this feeling of boredom, this feeling of loneliness, this feeling of doing many things and yet not doing anything? We can relate to how Herod feels in the Gospel. The First reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes answers the question for us. Why do we feel lonely in spite of the crowd? Why do we feel bored in spite of the toys and the books and the games? Why do we feel that we are alone even if physically, there are so many people around us?
It is said in the First reading that two things are necessary. First, we must know who we are. Second, we must know where we are going. When we do not know who we are, we get bored! When life has no direction and we do not know where life is leading us, we also fall into the trap of loneliness. Herod was restless. He had all the power. He had all the money. He had a huge kingdom, and yet there was restlessness in his heart because he did not know who he really was. He did not know where his kingship was leading him. It is good to ask ourselves these questions: “Who am I now? Where am I? What moves me? What urges me on?” If we cannot answer these questions, we can fall into the endless cycle of loneliness, monotony, and boredom, again and again.
