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“We believe it’s important to derive value from everything in our lives.”

A thought by Jon Tyson from his book, The Burden Is Light: Liberating Your Life from the Tyranny of Performance and Success (p. 118). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

But is that all that is important?

Jon says, “We want to realize an immediate return from whatever we invest in. I am prone to this way of thinking in so many areas of my life. ‘I paid a lot for that meal, yet the portions were not that big.’ ‘I invested two hours in that movie, and it was just okay.’  ‘I went to church, but the sermon wasn’t that profound.’ We believe it’s important to derive value from everything in our lives. But beauty doesn’t fit within that framework. When Mary anointed Jesus with oil, there was an immediate outcry against her extravagant generosity. ‘It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ (Mark 14:5) One gospel depicts the disciples crying, ‘Why this waste?’ (Matthew 26:8) When we measure things only by their ability to produce results and not for their intrinsic worth, the world is flattened down to one dimension and beauty and delight are squeezed out. The disciples were concerned with Jesus’s goals; Mary saw the beauty of Jesus, the person.”

He goes on, “The nationally recognized Christian artist Makoto Fujimura recalls a story that makes this point well. When he and his wife married, they were poor, struggling students who could barely scrape together enough money to cover their monthly expenses. Financial concerns hung over their lives like a permanent cloud. Makoto shares, ‘One evening, I was sitting alone, waiting for Judy to come home to our small apartment, worried about how we were going to afford the rent and pay for necessities over the weekend. Our refrigerator was empty and I had no cash left. Then Judy walked in, and she had brought home a bouquet of flowers. I got really upset. ‘ “How could you think of buying flowers if we can’t even eat!” ’ I remember saying, frustrated. Judy’s reply has been etched in my heart for over thirty years now. ‘ “We need to feed our souls, too.” ’  [Makoto Fujimura, Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2017), 15.]  Our souls are not commodities that can be traded or ignored. They require attention and cultivation. Mary saw the beauty in Jesus, and her soul was caught up in rapture. She poured out all she had for the beauty of a moment because Christ was worth it. As one scholar put it, ‘The beauty of uncalculating generosity is not to be measured by the yardstick of utility.’ [Francis Wright Beare, The Gospel According to Matthew (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1981), 505.]”

 Yes, we need to make sure that we’re also investing in our soul.  Will you strive to feed your soul too?

Yes, yes!
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