These days I often have the privilege of sharing the drive to and from work with my grandson, a beginning driver with his first regular paying job. I love our conversations on those trips, and grab every opportunity I have to know him better.
鈥淚 have bad gas,鈥� he told me once. 鈥淕. A. S. Can you tell me what that is, Nana?鈥�
My baked beans? I wondered. He chuckled. 鈥淕uitar Acquisition Syndrome.鈥澛� It鈥檚 true. Benjamin plays exceptionally well, but barely has the reverb drifted away on a new guitar before he spies another one to add to his collection. He鈥檚 up to about eight now, I think, and his job is nicely fuelling his syndrome. A few weeks ago, he purchased his first classical guitar. (What鈥檚 the difference? I asked that too. Nylon strings, and a wider neck.)
Adult desires generally cost more and may be more sophisticated. But who hasn鈥檛 drifted off into a daydream of something (or someone) other than our present reality? And who hasn鈥檛 chased something or other? The human spirit persistently reaches for more. Nicer. Better. Further. Faster. Higher. Lovelier. Smarter. List any superlative in the dictionary, and someone has pursued it.
The maxim,鈥済ood, better, best; never let it rest, until your good is better and your better, best,鈥� may spur some of us to excellence in certain areas. However, relentless pursuit of a material 鈥渂est鈥� comes with the steep price tag of inner peace.
I鈥檓 reminded of that every time we move and we (especially me) strive day and night to make the new place our own. I forget, at those times, God鈥檚 orders to 鈥淏e still and know that I am God.鈥�
Our recent move is no exception. I have painted and decorated, switched and transitioned furniture like a mad woman. For two sixty-ish youngsters, the Preacher and I (with the assistance of others) have done a peck of renovating and landscaping. We鈥檙e not finished yet. We may never be. There鈥檚 fun in that work鈥攗ntil the fun stops and all that鈥檚 left is a revving engine stuck in neutral. Lots of noise and fumes, but no progress for all that internal combustion. (We鈥檙e not there yet, thankfully. The bathroom isn鈥檛 done yet.)
On a recent trip from work, I reminded Benjamin of what I have learned, but regularly need to remember鈥攖hat Satan likes to use our desires to his own advantage by promising that the next guitar, or piece of furniture (job, spouse, house, pet, renovation, degree or ???) will satisfy us completely.
鈥淢ore鈥� is a siren song. Relentlessly pursuing it leads only to emptiness and waste鈥攗nless what we want 鈥渕ore鈥� of is a deeper relationship with the Son of God. Instead of constantly striving for the 鈥渟omething鈥� just out of reach, when we connect with the 鈥淪omeone鈥� always within reach, we will find satisfaction far deeper than imaginable. Peace beyond understanding. Contentment despite difficulty. Joy beyond describing.
Jesus doesn鈥檛 promise material magic, but he satisfies completely, no matter what syndrome plagues us.
