I LIKE THIS CONVERSATION and I’m excited to see where it goes. The verbiage “good life” reminds me of something Tim Mackie said while re-wording the “beatitudes” with possibly more accurate language. I.e. “The good life belongs to the poor, the powerless, the grieving ones…” Jesus seems like the forerunner in breaking down the Best Life paradigm and introducing a sort of Good Life paradigm that breaks all of the social pressures and expectations… anyways… YES. Listening along and oh, so curious.
I used to suffer from this in a pseudo-biblical propaganda Cult sort of way. Sort of still do at times because that ish is pervasive.
In my opinion — with God there is no highest or best or brightest in forms of paths. Outside of scriptural obedience or what He’s made clear—there is only today with God, acceptance of what is, receiving it all as grace aka presence and gratefulness— like you’ve partially already written about.
I love your writing, substack and otherwise 🎶🎶🎶. Obviously you’ve cultivated your soul in a way that your musings benefit those around you. Looking forward to the rest of the series! Thank you.
so kind Alyssa—thank you. and I'm glad to hear it.
that ish certainly is pervasive. I can't tell if we're living through an especially dense moment for the mushrooming population of this idea, but I do think it's an old one. restricting access to some good to increase its value and the perceived value of its distributor/arbiter. and I love that Jesus inverted that, by essentially bringing the highest good to the most lowly...
reminiscent of this section of the Tao Te Ching: "the highest form of goodness is like water. / water knows how to benefit all things without striving with them. / it settles in places loathed by all men. / therefore, it comes near the Tao [the Way]."
The funny thing about the “best-life” mirage is that, despite knowing how fake it is, I still tend to fall for it. And I find myself asking “how did I fall for this again” and always coming back to the same general reason: I want to believe it. I find it appealing to believe that there is some version of my life that is maximized, and fulfilled. And then I realize that maybe this longing isn’t entirely outrageous. My heart longs for the presence of God—and in that deep ache, it’s easily fooled by counterfeits.
well said. I think that is the shape of it. there is not *a* best, but there is a *the* best.
I also think there's a positive function to this unction—our longing towards the best directs us to realign our steps towards it. I do think there's a magnetism at play. but maybe we can be bamboozled by lesser magnets? ... thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Big thoughts. Big encouragement. I'm agreeing and processing. Will say more with 2/3 after I ruminate 1/3. And the map of the Mississippi River is visual poetry. I'll be pondering that, too.
I LIKE THIS CONVERSATION and I’m excited to see where it goes. The verbiage “good life” reminds me of something Tim Mackie said while re-wording the “beatitudes” with possibly more accurate language. I.e. “The good life belongs to the poor, the powerless, the grieving ones…” Jesus seems like the forerunner in breaking down the Best Life paradigm and introducing a sort of Good Life paradigm that breaks all of the social pressures and expectations… anyways… YES. Listening along and oh, so curious.
I used to suffer from this in a pseudo-biblical propaganda Cult sort of way. Sort of still do at times because that ish is pervasive.
In my opinion — with God there is no highest or best or brightest in forms of paths. Outside of scriptural obedience or what He’s made clear—there is only today with God, acceptance of what is, receiving it all as grace aka presence and gratefulness— like you’ve partially already written about.
I love your writing, substack and otherwise 🎶🎶🎶. Obviously you’ve cultivated your soul in a way that your musings benefit those around you. Looking forward to the rest of the series! Thank you.
so kind Alyssa—thank you. and I'm glad to hear it.
that ish certainly is pervasive. I can't tell if we're living through an especially dense moment for the mushrooming population of this idea, but I do think it's an old one. restricting access to some good to increase its value and the perceived value of its distributor/arbiter. and I love that Jesus inverted that, by essentially bringing the highest good to the most lowly...
reminiscent of this section of the Tao Te Ching: "the highest form of goodness is like water. / water knows how to benefit all things without striving with them. / it settles in places loathed by all men. / therefore, it comes near the Tao [the Way]."
Love this! Really enjoyed the 'even if you live inland' aside. 😂 And that graphic. I saved it. (the one of past and future lives)
haha- thank you! yeah, that illustration of that concept has stayed with me.
The funny thing about the “best-life” mirage is that, despite knowing how fake it is, I still tend to fall for it. And I find myself asking “how did I fall for this again” and always coming back to the same general reason: I want to believe it. I find it appealing to believe that there is some version of my life that is maximized, and fulfilled. And then I realize that maybe this longing isn’t entirely outrageous. My heart longs for the presence of God—and in that deep ache, it’s easily fooled by counterfeits.
well said. I think that is the shape of it. there is not *a* best, but there is a *the* best.
I also think there's a positive function to this unction—our longing towards the best directs us to realign our steps towards it. I do think there's a magnetism at play. but maybe we can be bamboozled by lesser magnets? ... thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Big thoughts. Big encouragement. I'm agreeing and processing. Will say more with 2/3 after I ruminate 1/3. And the map of the Mississippi River is visual poetry. I'll be pondering that, too.
so so good, and even more so because I absolutely loved this essay earlier this week which dovetails with your thoughts:
https://granola.substack.com/p/telling-a-hopeful-story
second Hannah Coulter shoul-out in 3 days... I'll have to give it a read. thanks Haley!
yeah, that's a powerful tube sock.