The Green Light on the Dock

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“And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter—to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning—— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”  F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

My job is such that I'm on the road a lot.  It's a good thing I have a company vehicle.  I'll put 200 miles a day on the odometer.  That's a lot of miles on a vehicle.  But similarly and as time marches on, we find that we have a lot of sand that's fallen through the hour glasses on our frail, human bodies.  That's sort of what I want to talk about today.  What's it all about?

King Solomon, the smartest man to ever live, wrote about that in Ecclesiastes:

"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher,

"Vanity of vanities!  All is vanity."

What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun?

With my daily drive time, I pray, then I listen to podcasts.  I have 3 favorites of which I never miss an episode:

1. The Art of Manliness

2. Bear Grease

3. Victor Davis Hansen

That is quite a variety, you might say!  I also have a library card and have downloaded the Libby App on my phone.  That way I can listen to audiobooks.  I like mysteries from the likes of authors like James Lee Burke and Michael Connelly.  But lately, I've pledged to go back and re-read a lot of the classics.  I just finished up with "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley.  It was written in 1932 and it's amazing how true to life that book is with 2025 America.

The one I finished before that was "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  As stated, I've read all these before, but I it interesting to re-visit them in the eyes of a middle aged man.  This audiobook is almost 5 hours long, which is pretty short.  Here's my take on the book:

I told my wife after listening to 3 hours of it, that I hated it.  The characters in the book were wealthy, worldly, hedonistic, and fake.  They lived for themselves and their selfish pleasures, feeding their physical desires.  They were constantly at parties, drinking, and it seemed like most were having affairs, living lives of excess and no one was really happy.  They all seemed to be very lonely people.

You see, Gatsby was from a very humble upbringing.  He fell in love with a woman of great wealth named Daisy Buchanan.  He knew in order to have her, he would need to be rich and successful.  He was very driven and commenced to doing just that and he succeeded in bootlegging during Prohibition, along with other illegal schemes and enterprises.  Doing this enabled him to amass great wealth and a big mansion on Long Island.  Many people would come to his parties, drink his alcohol, dance to his music, and enjoy seeing and being seen.  Gatsby would gaze longingly across the sound and see the green light on Daisy Buchanan's dock, so far away.

Spoiler alert:  At the end of the book, Gatsby dies!  Nick, his only true friend, is calling people to tell them the time of the funeral, but everyone has more pressing plans.  All of the "friends" that were eager to attend his parties and drink his alcohol while he was living, abandoned him once he had no more to give.  No one attended his funeral.

Thinking about the green light on Daisy's dock that Gatsby would stare at, I think it symbolized several things - first Gatsby's quest to be someone successful, to have money and power and esteem.  He put all his energies in their pursuit.  I think he attained that in many ways, but having them didn't satiate something deeper within himself.  The green light was also a representation of Daisy's love.  It was there, but so far away, just beyond reach.

This is a picture, to me, of life that King Solomon wrote about so many years ago.  Everything is futility and striving after the wind.  The pursuit of wealth, riches, fame, success, at the end of life, is indeed hollow.  Maybe, like Gatsby, you never get the love of your life and maybe, no one will come to your funeral.  The chase of these material things is elusive.  Our lives are, the Bible tells us, a momentary vapor - here today and gone tomorrow.  No matter how close you come to achieving all the goals you set, true happiness seems just out of your grasp.  You never reach it, just like the green light in the distance on Daisy's dock.

"His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him."  Nick Carroway thinking about his friend, Gatsby.

I think that's why Jesus told us not to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.  Instead lay up treasures in heaven where there is no decay or loss.  Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also.  Instead of seeking happiness, we should find contentment.

Gatsby died alone.  Was it all worth it for him?  I would say no.  We have an opportunity to go down a different path than Gatsby.  Unless Jesus returns during our lifetimes, we'll all die.  But death is not the end.  For the believer, that "green light" is within reach, without a doubt.  It's promised to us!  We will live in eternal bliss with our Savior.  While Gatsby died alone, we've been promised that our Lord will never leave us nor forsake us.  We won't be alone.  And, everything we've hoped for is there for all eternity.