31 Days of Finding Enjoyment

Every now and then, for the last several years, I will have a moment of deep quietness.  It is in those times that I remember how much I like to write.  It's similar to the feeling I get when I remember how much I like a food I haven't eaten for a while, or a favorite book I haven't read for years.  Familiar pleasure.  And it makes me yearn.

Cultivating pleasure doesn't come easily to me. It's not that I don't enjoy things, it's more that because I have such a warped sense of responsibility,  I default to the priority of making the world right before it occurs to me that I should do something for the sheer joy of doing.  Now, I am realistic enough to know I can't make the world right, and I have plenty of biblical knowledge to explain who can.  But I have lived a long time with the need to do one more thing before I indulge in the things that except for pleasure, don't really accomplish much. 

The greatest One who ever mused, dreamed and created never intended this to be.  In each of us, there lies elements of His musing, His dreaming, His creative spirit that is intended to give birth to joy that flow from our lives.  I have not been living up to my potential, as my teachers used to say. Have you? 

Last month I read the book of Ecclesiastes in the New Living Translation, and heard a completely different voice in my head as I did.  Solomon, who really had it all, points out to us that having it all doesn't amount to much of a life. He spent part of his, as he tells us, pursuing every possession and pleasure a king could pursue, applying his great wisdom to understanding life, faith and all it's complexity only to have this to say-

"That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. 14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad."

Whoa. He opens the book with the vanity of it all, and ends it with the judgement of God.  This is not a cheery book. Or, is it? 

"So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun." Ecc 8:15.

The truth is, life is full of good and bad, work and rest, joy and pain.  In the midst of it all, God has intended for us to have fun.  This was an unexpected thought for me, and one I've been pondering ever since. 

So for 31 days, I'm going to write, quote, and share things that just speak of enjoyment just for the sake of pleasure. Not because it accomplishes something, but because it just is...

en·joy·ment

noun \in-ˈjȯi-mənt\ : a feeling of pleasure caused by doing or experiencing something you like.

 Feel like coming along for the ride? 

Comments

Sasha Wheatley said…
Absolutely! Looking forward to reading more of your writing - always blessed by your teaching, sharing and encouragement.
October 1, 2013 at 12:44 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Not Another Hectic Holiday Post

Image
This week my inbox has been flooded with two types of emails-sale ads from retailers and surviving the season posts from blogs that I follow. I'm a little burned out on both types.  First, why do some retailers think you want three emails a day that basically say the same thing? (Loft, I'm looking at you.) I heard you the first time.  Second, after about the third or fourth post, I'm finding that we all are saying the same thing on our blogs.  We're crazy busy with shopping, kids activities and baking We feel guilty that we aren't enjoying the season more Take a minute and remember why we are doing all this-Jesus There, I just saved you from reading ten more posts. Now go bake more cookies!  I kid. In reality, I take a little comfort from the fact that we are all sort of crazy together. I have a couple of friends that start to show some unraveling this time of year and it always makes me feel better because they handle all this kind of crazy much bet
Read more

Still Tasty

I don't know about you, but I hate throwing food away. Not scrapping the plate into the trash when I can't possibly take another bite, I mean taking out a bottle of salad dressing, or leftovers, or box of baking soda and not having any idea if it's still good.  More often than not I throw it away, because here's a fun fact about me-I have essentially no sense of smell.  While you may simply sniff the dressing, I just stare at it.  Here is a new question I've been pondering lately-if tomatoes are in an unrefrigerated bin at the store, why do I put them in the fridge when I get home? My mom puts every vegetable but potatoes in the fridge, as well as the peanut butter, but that's a different blog post.  As the fourth child, my mom didn't explain a lot of kitchen mysteries to me, when I was underfoot in the kitchen she just told me to go read a book instead. That explains a lot of things. So here I am, a late blooming kitchenista, wanting to unlock the hidde
Read more

On Eating and Sleeping

Image
I read a blog post recently that said the worst opening sentence in a blog post was "Sorry I haven't posted for a while." If only you include it in a sentence, does it still count as the worst opening sentence? Except I'm not sorry I haven't posted here for quite some time, because: I've been posting here , and  I've been thinking.  I've been doing other things too, but thinking, and specifically thinking about what I do has been a big part of the last few months. Around the end of every year, I take some time to look back and ask God to give me a report card. As a kid I liked report cards, even though there were usually a couple subjects that looked like the grades belonged on someone else's card and a snarky comment from a teacher (doesn't work up to potential). Yo, math teacher, I spent my whole adult working career doing math, take that. God doesn't make snarky comments when He gives you a report card, so I'm pretty speci
Read more