Things that are Light

Over the past week it has been brought to my attention that I am "too serious." I can think of 4 separate individuals who have recently made comments about this to me. However, I did not pay any attention to these comments until saw the movie Across the Universe. During the song "She's so heavy" thought to myself, "Could this song be about me?" "Am I too heavy?" Thus, I have been making a conscious effort to be more light-hearted this week. In keeping with this decision I have chosen to write about things that are light...

Things that are light:

-Whipped cream...for some reason this is what I think of when I see the word "lite" maybe because it is written on the tub of cheap store bought whipped cream when we have thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family and me and my cousin Trey eat a whole bunch of it on our pumpkin pie....yummmy.

-Heather...I think of her because my grandpa used to call her "Feather" because she was so little...and her name is Heather...which is pretty close to the word "feather" (over-explanation?)

-My brain on wine. I am a light-weight. One glass of wine and I have to give the keys to my car to someone else. I attribute this to the fact that I almost never drink, and I never drink very much. Maybe I should drink more so that I could build up my tolerance...Mom? thoughts?

-Feather pillows. When I think of feather pillows I have this mental image of a giant soft pillow fight in the clouds of heaven with all my loved ones in white pajamas...I know this is random, but that is actually my mental image. Sounds nice doesn't it? Maybe that is what heaven is like...

-Balloons. Is there anyone who actually doesn't like balloons? I don't know anyone who dislikes them. It's fun to yank the string and make them bounce...I like that.

-Laughing. There is something very light about laughing with friends about dumb jokes.

-Swimming. Who doesn't love the weightless feeling you get when you are swimming. I like to touch the bottom of the pool with my feet and then push up and pull my legs in to my chest and see how long I can float like that...sometimes I'll use my arms to keep me up longer with my legs close to my chest.

-When someone plays with my hair. This may be one of my favorite things in the whole entire world. When someone plays softly with my hair all of my cares and concerns melt away and I feel as though I am frolicking through a field of wild flowers barefoot wearing a flowy skirt and laughing. (maybe kind of like the opening scene in The Sound Of Music where she is singing "The Hills Are Alive.")

Reflecting on Daniel T. Gilbert's Research, Part 2: The Pleasure of Uncertainty About Positive Events

"By making sense of events, people adapt emotionally to them... The event will come to be seen as more normal and inevitable then it actually was, and hence it will lose some of the emotional power that it had when it still seemed extraordinary... If making sense of positive events reduces the duration of the pleasure they cause, then inhibiting the sense-making process should prolong people's pleasure. (Wilson & Gilbert, 2005)"

One of the studies done by Gilbert had researchers unexpectedly give a dollar coin to random people studying in a library. Half of the participants were given an explanation why they received a dollar coin and the other half were given no explanation. The results showed that the participants that were not given an explanation were in a better mood 5 minutes after the random gift.

So I wonder, does this have applicable points to our interaction with God? If so, what does this mean in relationships with God? If this idea is applicable to a relationship with God then that would mean that people who have a more mystic view of God stay more content than people who believe that he is understandable. If a person does not fully understand why/how a perfect being could love and accept them, then their relationship with God would be more enjoyable, according to this research. And is the reverse then true? People who are highly educated in theology and have extensive theories on exactly who God is and why he does what he does-- these people are less content with their interaction with God.

So what can we take from this? Should we throw up our hands and say, "Ok, I choose to not try to understand God so that I will be happier with my relationship with Him?"

Well…no.

Maybe the goal should be to continue to seek to know God more intimately, yet still approach him with humility and awe with respect to how he works in a realm with more wisdom and knowledge than we will ever possess; to seek to understand Him personally and still be content to maintain the mystery of how he works. Maybe this would sound something like this:

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen." (Romans 11:33-36)

Reflecting on Daniel T. Gilbert's Research, Part 1: Irrevocable Choices

I stumbled across this though my thesis research...

"When people make a decision that is difficult to reverse...they are strongly motivated to rationalize the decision and make the best of it. When people can more easily undo a decision...they are less motivated to rationalize their choice because they can always change their minds. Consequently people are often happier with irrevocable choices because they do the psychological work necessary to rationalize what they can't undo. Because people do not realize in advance that they will work harder to rationalize irreversible decisions, however, they often avoid the binding commitments that would actually increase their satisfaction." (Wilson and Gilbert, 2005)

I think this is an interesting idea, and as with most things I wonder how this relates to a relationship with God. It goes without saying that it is hard to quantify how committed a person is to their relationship with God. A relationship with a being that has no physical presence is difficult to measure. So, how can you tell if you have made an "irrevocable choice" to serve God instead of an ambivalent choice? Well, I'm not quite sure, but maybe it would look something like this...

"Blessed be your name,
In the land that is plentiful,
Where your streams of abundance flow,
Blessed be your name,

Blessed be your name
when I’m found in the desert place,
Though I walk through the wilderness,
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord"
("Blessed be Your Name" by Matt Redman)

I believe that God forms us psychologically in ways that bring us satisfaction when we live according to his will. Or maybe he calls us to live in a way that would psychologically bring us satisfaction? Either way, God knows what he is doing when he asks us to irrevocably choose him (throughout the good and the bad times in life). Although the life of a Christian is not always happiness and sunshine, in my experience, there is an innate contentment and true joy that is brought on by being irrevocably committed to the life that God calls us to lead.