Why is it that we so often seem to get greater enjoyment from the process than from the finished product?
Case in Point: I enjoy web design. I'm a little rusty, but I'm catching up. I still enjoy it. But the thing is, I much prefer to work on a new design than to sit back and enjoy a finished website. I work. I finish a site. Then...I want to make another one. Sometimes I start into a design (which I actually like) and before I even finish I am on to a new idea.
Maybe its the perfectionist streak in me. Or maybe there is something more profound.
It seems that I (or at least characters in films I've seen) have been told that its as much about the journey as the destination. I have sometimes thought that this notion is actually antithetic to the gospel (i.e. if the destination is Jesus then it is all about the destination). But maybe there is something more grand in all of it than I have yet stumbled on to. I suspect maybe there is.
Any thoughts?
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8 comments:
I think it's the artist in you. God is a God of creativity, and who is at work--and we are made in His image.
Eldredge points out that Jesus didn't have a set routine for healing the blind--to some he spoke, some he touched, to some he applied mud. He worked, and He worked creatively.
And then there's Paul, who reminded Timothy that "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." So in that sense, I don't believe it's antithetical to the Gospel. Yes, the destination is Christ, but we've yet to reach the final destination--"He's still workin' on me."
And I believe the Holy Spirit works the same way as you (and I) do with websites. Just as you finish one site and move on the the next, so the Holy Spirit works in us to show us specific areas we need to change until we repent and make that change; then He moves on to another area that needs work.
While I do believe that it is all about the destination, truly the destination will not be reached until the Day of the Lord. Until then, we are made to work and to be creative, for we are made in the image of a God who works and who is creative in His work. But He will not stop working until the day of Jesus Christ.
So keep churning out those websites, and enjoy the journey--because, at the moment, there is only the journey.
Good thoughts Daniel, and nice to have you blogging again. I agree with you and might even go further in saying that, while there are destination points along the journey (e.g. regeneration), there is never a final destination where everything is finished, as it were. If we think of our knowledge of God, for example, I think as long as we remain finite, created beings we cannot fully comprehend God, because he's infinite and therefore basically different from us. As we will always be finite, created beings I don't see a time when we will have 'arrived', even in the 'age to come'. I think we will see clearer in the age to come, and know more fully, but not know in fullness or entirety. I think there will always be the sense in which God remains profoundly mysterious to us, and that we are therefore always on a journey of getting to know him.
I think it's only in that context that the common understanding of heaven as a place where we continually worship God makes sense (not worship just in the sense of singing songs of course, but in glorifying God with the whole of life in the new creation/with our resurrection bodies etc.), because we can never fully exhaust all that can be said about him or given to him in acts of worship. So I think we will always be on a journey of finding new ways to glorify him, even in the most basic and mundane areas of this life, and the next.
So anyway, yes, I agree :)
I think it's ok, Daniel. I do this with books. Hence why, at times, I might be reading 3 to 5 at the same time. I think it might also be a little bit of the apostolic in us. Apostles are good at initiating new things, seeing the importance of spreading outward to accomplish more, not just being satisfied with what already is established. The beginning of new works are important. So, maybe I am emphasizing the beginning and you are focusing more on the in between journey. In all, we must be level-headed and revel in all aspects of life - the initiation, the journey, and the finish line.
I like the facelift on the site ;-D.
I was just talking to my father-in-law last night about this. It's easy to start a project and get it to 95% completion, and then get bored with it and ready to move on to the next fresh and exciting idea.
He was telling me that his basement is finished, he just has to paint and nail-up the crown-molding. But he can't be bothered, lol.
Anyway, everyone else's comments are far more profound, but here's a pragmatic example from everyday life, hehe ;-D.
I read somewhere where Jamie Smith said he gets a sort of "project A.D.D.," where he gets bored with an idea after a long time and is ready to move on.
I think it's natural for all of us. It certainly is for me (biiiiig time =).
Yeah, my comment sounded way too spiritual. :) You're great, Daniel.
I'd like to respond to these thoughts and carry it forward a bit in a soon to come post. But in the mean time I wanted to copy in a comment that my bro-in-law, Nate, made on the Facebook version of this post. I think it is very good.
Nate said...
Well I completely agree with you, I am the same way. The best part of a woodworking project is actually working on it, it's nice to see your product being enjoyed or used to its potential but I think a lot of that is even that it reminds you of the process of making said product. So that said, here's my opinion...
I think we are created by God to need the journey to prepare us for the destination. When we arrive at the destination and can look back it makes that journey endearing to us because we can see how it prepared us to more fully enjoy where we now stand. Kind of like in 1 Chronicles 21:24 where Ornan tries to give David his possessions for a sacrifice but David refuses saying he will not offer that which cost him nothing. There is something in the journey that makes the destination more pleasing.
I wonder in regard to your, Jesus being the destination, comment if my idea still holds true in that the journey of this life prepares us (or should if we truly follow Him) and produces a greater holiness in us that we more fully enjoy His presence? I don't know, that's probably full of theological holes :o] Just a thot.
Cool thoughts, Nate. (Daniel, you'll have to tell Nate that msg for me ;-).
I also think you can draw a parallel to this with God's very revelation, itself.
In Eden, after the Fall of mankind, God didn't just immediately introduce Jesus. He initiated a "journey." It's his progressive revelation that unfolds throughout redemptive history, and takes us along on the ride.
That's good, Chach.
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