Wanting
Yesterday I posted an entry about the Shepherd/sheep relationship portrayed in the Bible. It got me thinking about wanting.
"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." Or in Spanish, El Senor es mi pastor; no me faltara (accents missing). The Spanish makes it clearer--I will not lack. Nothing will lack to me, literally, although there really isn't an object grammatically. I shall not want, not "I shall not want for food, for housing, for whatever." I shall not lack.
We not only don't lack; ideally, we are happy that we don't lack.
Contentment is something we Americans are, at best, ambivalent about. The Christian and post-Christian thought in us says be content with the blessing you have, but our economic system says that contentment is a sin, in a sense. It keeps us from buying, and we need buying to keep up our system--to ensure jobs, to see economic growth. After 9/11 we were told the most patriotic thing to do was spend money, especially on big ticket items (appliances, cars).
I have also heard many sermons on wanting more in the Christian life, wanting a closer walk with God, wanting more intimacy, wanting this or that spiritual blessing. I find myself equally ambivalent about those sermons. Why not be content with the closeness to God we have, assuming we are not living disobediently? Are we looking for an experience or emotional high that needs continual upping?
I used to think of prayer totally in terms of discipline. I no longer do; I try to think of it purely as dependence.
Wanting is insidious. I wanted a back door so I could enjoy my back porch this summer. I now have it and I have gone to something else to want.
"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." Or in Spanish, El Senor es mi pastor; no me faltara (accents missing). The Spanish makes it clearer--I will not lack. Nothing will lack to me, literally, although there really isn't an object grammatically. I shall not want, not "I shall not want for food, for housing, for whatever." I shall not lack.
We not only don't lack; ideally, we are happy that we don't lack.
Contentment is something we Americans are, at best, ambivalent about. The Christian and post-Christian thought in us says be content with the blessing you have, but our economic system says that contentment is a sin, in a sense. It keeps us from buying, and we need buying to keep up our system--to ensure jobs, to see economic growth. After 9/11 we were told the most patriotic thing to do was spend money, especially on big ticket items (appliances, cars).
I have also heard many sermons on wanting more in the Christian life, wanting a closer walk with God, wanting more intimacy, wanting this or that spiritual blessing. I find myself equally ambivalent about those sermons. Why not be content with the closeness to God we have, assuming we are not living disobediently? Are we looking for an experience or emotional high that needs continual upping?
I used to think of prayer totally in terms of discipline. I no longer do; I try to think of it purely as dependence.
Wanting is insidious. I wanted a back door so I could enjoy my back porch this summer. I now have it and I have gone to something else to want.
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