Today taught me something about myself--I may be more prone to some addictions than I imagined. Here's the story. If you've read Unconventional enough, you likely realize I'm not much of a legalist. Yes, let's follow biblical commands, not as the way into faith but to express faith. BUT. I appreciate Sunday's focus on God and worship and rest. And I have no problems with doing some stuff on these days.
After worship and lunch we stopped off at Home Depot to pick up some materials--a few more concrete blocks for the waterfall's retaining wall and some bags of cement to fill the tubes for strength. I wheelbarrowed the blocks to the back corner (seen in a couple of Facebook posts), intending to just leave them there. Notice the word "intending."
However, I wanted to play with the wall's design a bit with the new blocks, so put some there. Others were to fill in a gap along the north fence to level the dirt. Might as well put them in place. That's it. But once in place, I wanted to give a more clean look before the rains come tonight, so I backfilled them with some dirt.
That led to putting some dirt against the main retaining wall, but wait, I needed to fill the tubes with cement. Another task. The quick setting stuff soon made it solid, and I wondered how much dirt I would need at one side--enough to reach near the top of the wall. So I put a little in, and it needed compacting. But you can't just get the sense with a little dirt.
During this all, a nagging voice hinted this was too much work on a day of rest. The urgency of the next task drowned it out. Again, and again.
The hint became whisper which became a statement which almost became a shout. OK, I get it, and finally put away the tools, took a shower, and realized I had a post to make. This one. The pic above is what it looked like after all this. A lot of progress on a day of rest. Too much.
Now, don't get me wrong. I don't proclaim that we shouldn't do anything on Sundays. But for me, today, I let doing good defeat the best. A day of rest. I went overboard: driven by the desire to do, seduced by doing a good job on a backyard feature that will enhance leisure later, and tempted by the need to get it done. A mild addiction reared its head.
So what's the hook for spiritual formation? As finite, limited creatures, we face more demands on our time and energy and resources than we can get to. Good things often. Bad things as well. And we know enough to identify and resist the bad. Good things, though, are good. By definition. But are they the best? And how often do we allow the good to keep us from the best. Like I did. Today.
Kick Starting the Discussion
Have you noticed how the good can interfere with the best in your life? What happened, what were the consequences? Do you often get too busy with good things? Which ones? Why?
In discriminating between the good and the best, what standards do you use? How linked are they to biblical values? What changes can you make?