Try This Restaurant

Here's a new food service model. Imagine this kind of restaurant.

You get seated in a nice, comfortable booth, meet the server, and place your order.

Your food arrives so quickly it surprises you. And it's good. It's hot, tasty, seasoned well, healthy portions. 

Then, before you finish your entree, the server puts another dish on the table. It seems like the server read your mind, because you happen to love that dish. "No charge," says the server. Well, OK, that sounds great. You are not quite full, so you eagerly dig into the unexpected treat. Soon you're getting full. But before you can finish the treat, the server shows up with three new dishes, again, no charge.

"We are actually full now," you advise the server. She replies, "You liked that other food so much, we thought you would like this too. Don't worry, you don't have to eat it all, but surely you want to taste it." It does look and smell amazing. By now you know the chef is talented. So you get a forkful of everything. Some is especially delicious. 

Then you look up as the server places five more dishes on the table. She announces, "Based on the dishes you really liked, we prepared these delicacies for you. Again, no charge, and feel free to taste as much as you like."

This cycle only ends when you stand up and leave the table. You know you've had good food, but instead of feeling satisfied, you feel sluggish, bloated. You don't even remember everything you ate. But it was a very good deal to get all that food for the price of one entree.

So, in a couple of days, you head back to the same restaurant. This time, they really know what you like, so the endless menu offers all your favorites and lots of new, exquisite fare. Now you love this restaurant. You go there several times a week. You invite friends. You get to-go boxes to tide you over until your next visit. You learn that you can Door Dash this place, and now you can get it anywhere, anytime, as much as you like. You get peppered with alerts, reminding you that the food is waiting, just a click away.

You know that life is good, because you can get all the food you can stand, all the time, no restrictions.

But eventually, something doesn't feel right. Can you be addicted to food? Constantly in the back of your mind you are wondering, "What kind of snack can I get right now? Let me check." You know that in 20 minutes you can have whatever you want and some glorious surprises too.

But it doesn't feel right. When did you decide to let someone else choose your menu? When did you decide that in every spare moment you need to be eating? And look at your health. Even all that good food...it's just too much. You have forgotten what even feels like to be hungry. You feel caught.

Not only is the blessing of food now hurting your body, it's hurting your soul. You are not able to concentrate. Your relationships suffer. You feel isolated. 

Something has to change, and only you can change it. Maybe you can find some friends who are also ready to get out of the trap. It's so counter cultural. But you know that bucking the culture leads to freedom.

Who's in charge of the menu of your mind?

On Being and Doing

We call ourselves human beings, but it seems like we put a lot more stress on our doing. It's actually difficult to describe ourselves without talking about what we have done. We can talk about careers, hobbies, families, and it all seems to revolve around what we do.

I've been meditating on human being and human doing.

If I want to know who I am, I tend to look at my circumstances and choices and activities. These external things shape me into who I am. I'm a pastor, a farmer, a neighbor, a reader, a gardener, a hiker, a kayaker. From this perspective, being is a result of doing.

But what if I reverse that? I can start with my identity. I am a creature made by and loved by God. I was born in North America in the 20th century. I am a son, a brother, a husband, a father. I have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He tells me how precious I am to him. Jesus even died for my sins and conquered death for me. He forgives me. He promises never to leave me. He calls me his friend.

Knowing who I am, then, shapes what I do. I can let the life in me flow out through my decisions, my career, my family. Who I am overflows in what I do. This is the perspective of a human being.

If what I do determines who I am, then I must constantly produce. I must always prove my worth. I have to keep busy. Failing to work can jeopardize my identity.

It is much better to be grounded in my identity first, and let my life flow from there. Knowing who I am, in Christ, lets me receive forgiveness and lets me rest. That sounds like real life.

God in his mercy helps me untangle my twisted thoughts, so that I can see my true self in him. And this, I am discovering, is a life-long process. And it is a process that leads to life.