Nathan, a boy I read about recently, is seven years old. His second grade teacher gave his class an assignment. They were to draw a picture and write an essay about what they would need to have a perfect life. Nathan drew a house and wrote beneath it, "My Home." Also, he drew himself and his dog. Next he drew a checkerboard with faces inside each square and wrote "My Friends" beside that. His essay was titled, "The Perfect Life for Me," and here's what it said:

A perfect life for me is the life that I'm in right now. Because I have a lot of friends and have a big family, too. I do not need a perfect life.1

We might hope that young Nathan, who sounds wise beyond his years, will continue to be that content all his life, but if he is like most of us, he probably won't; the yearning for more…