How much is too much?
A little update. Remember my ugly back yard? Well, it's still pretty ugly but we are definitely making progress . Plants are going in the ground, beds are being dug (thanks, Bruce) and birds are visiting. There's something very soothing about planting a garden and having birds come to see you. Birds are sort of like cats in that you can't call them and expect them to come. They just sort of favor you with their presence. So it becomes a real gift when they show up. We had a little discussion last night about the spiritual and the material and the difficulty sometimes in knowing when too much involvement with say, hobbies or passions, can interfere. The example was someone who is totally into the Mariners. Spends their free time, money, and thinking about the Mariners with little time for much else. Since I think all that is silly, I have no trouble dismissing that as way over the top. But what about something like gardening, for example. Or reading, or scrapbooking, or blogging or any of the other myriad of hobbies or interests that are neither good nor bad in and of themselves. Can those things interfere with your spiritual walk or development or however you want to think about that? Or, is God OK with that?
The question as I see it comes down to are these things mutually exclusive or as we pursue those passions and our interests, is God right there in the middle of it? Does this question come up because of an inherent misunderstanding of material and spiritual?
I'm not into guilt, but I can see where I could make myself feel really guilty about this sort of thing. Of course, there is always something that we could be doing to help someone else. "The poor will be with us always." But wouldn't we drive ourselves crazy by thinking that way?
I'm not really bothered by this question. I think I'm more bothered that I'm not bothered, if that makes any sense. I've seen too many people in my day driven to do "church work". They always struck me as anything but peaceful and "my yoke is easy and my burden is light" sure didn't seem to apply in their case. Maybe that's why I've never considered this question. How much is too much?
posted by pat @ 10:24 AM
1 Comments:
I think you're right to diagnose this as a question of how to properly fit together the material and the spiritual. I myself don't see such a sharp dichotomy between the two, and find it very easy to then say that yes, whether it is the Mariners (though I share an inherited skepticism for this sort of timewasting) or gardening or blogging that there is the possibility of discovering God through it somehow. One practical way to take stock of whether these ways of spending time are interfering or promoting "God-consciousness" might be to examine what kind of connection they foster between ourselves and the world and ourselves and other people. Do we feel independent, isolated, withdrawn when we do whatever, or do we feel more connected, more grounded, more aware of other creatures and our mutual status as creatures of God? If watching a Mariners game can do that for some people, then I say, go for it...and if gardening does that for you, go for it.
Someone should give you a St Francis for your garden for your birthday. Won't be cause that would be hell to carry back with you on an airplane, and besides I have a little sump'n sump'n for you already...
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