I'm still pondering the whole concept of idolatry (excessive devotion) and the implications this has on my life. I've cut the caffeine out of my diet this past week. Conveniently, my coffee ran out and I bought de-caf so that I can de-tox but still allow myself the odd pleasure of a steaming cuppa. I also have cut coffee (de-caf though it is... is that like smoking fake cigarettes or what?) out of my early morning routine. The first morning I made it, with great (read VERY GREAT)difficulty, til after 1 pm, the second day til about the same time but much easier, I never even really gave coffee a thought all morning, and the third day I didn't even THINK of coffee til after supper when I was setting dessert on the table and we had company, so I thought of it first for them, and then enjoyed a cup with them (again, de-caf).
Now that I am out of the haze I am surprised at how the coffee pot often acted as a magnet to me and affected my performance. I know when I have quit in the past and started drinking more water that I have had that feeling of almost waking up from a stupor. Just feeling so much more vibrant and energetic, and HEALTHY. Okay, I admit, I don't feel particularily vibrant, or energetic, or healthy yet, but I think that is more due to the mugginess of summer and a breastfeeding baby on a three hour round the clock schedule than anything else. On a spiritual visual, it's almost like I feel lightened from chains that I was dragging around, like the ghost of Christmas past..... I do feel very happy to be free from that clutch of caffeine that really did draw me more regularily and powerfully than I was willing to realize. It has really reminded me of why fasting is so effective on a personal and spiritual level. Somehow when we deny ourselves something completely, our senses are awakened in a way that they aren't when we are operating on auto pilot with our eyes glazed over.
My best friend was telling me how she weaned herself from one of her favourite tv shows and how good she felt about being free from the draw it had on her. I was thinking about the one show that I watch, Lost, and how if I am going to miss it I *have* to tape it and up came the idol sensor. This week I've just been thinking how all of these "things" that can become subjects of excessive devotion to us, are not BAD things in and of themselves. There is nothing wrong with me sitting down to enjoy an episode of Lost with my husband, or enjoying a hot cuppa coffee. But when the "draw" becomes more powerful than my drive... I have something to work on.
How bout you? Thought any more about this? Tackling any giants? I'd love to hear from you.
11 comments:
I can admitt earlier this year I was pretty relient on coffee but now I only have one cup a day and don't even worry about it if I miss it:) I buy a really nice variety and so I really enjoy that one cup but then I don't even think about it again:) It is good not to have these extra things confusing our view.
I'm sorry - I don't find it's an issue. I love coffee (as you well know) - I love everything about it - aroma, look, taste, holding it in my hand...it's comfort in a cup and I enjoy it unabashedly. I don't think it clouds my relationship with God or detracts from it, and I don't think it's wrong to enjoy it (a lot - lol). But I totally *get* where you're coming from and respect your need to kick it...it will however more than likely continue to appear on my "thankful" lists (lol)
Hey ladies. For the record, this isn't about coffee... well it is, but isn't if you know what I mean. It is for me, I'm not saying it should be for anyone else. Just asking in general if anyone else has contemplated this subject any further, or taken any steps to overcome areas of excessive devotion we admitted in the last discussion. It's a deep topic, I don't want to brush over it (in my own life).
Enjoying something in moderation and balance=good, enjoying something to the point of being addicted or put out if I don't get to enjoy it=bad. That's the plumb line I am using to examine idolatry in my own life. Much of the time, coffee has not been an idol to me, I've just enjoyed it, unabashedly... then other days, or usually seasons, it's not just a moderate healthy enjoyment.
It's a hard hitting question. I know. I tend to like hard hitting questions :D
And for the record B-girl? I will unabashedly enjoy a steaming cup of beautiful aromatic coffee with you on wednesday :D because like I said, it's really not about the coffee. It's about excessive desire. My next tackle is going to be comfort food. And it won't be about the food either.
Have I said lately how much I appreciate this venue?
Love the reading, love the thoughts. My excessive devotion? The internet/blog-o-sphere. Period. It's got a hold on me and I have been working to LET IT GO. And while I still check in on things occassionally, after I realized how much of my thought life it ruled (cough, cough, excessive devotion much?!), I knew I had to cut back, take my thoughts captive and otherwise turn off the screen when the screen was on in my mind all the time. It's good to know we're idol-smashing together...regardless of the differences in the actual "thing" we are idolizing.
I realise it's not about coffee. I was thinking about this some more this morning and you just said what I was going to say PC - it is all about balance. And certainly we need to recognise the things in our lives that are out of balance and correct them. But I sometimes wonder if we aren't "creating" issues where there don't need to be any? I loved watching "so you think you can dance" and I taped it every time it was on so that I wouldn't miss something while I was putting kids to bed...but now it's over and I don't feel a gaping hole in my life.
If it's not hindering the things that should be my priorities (time with God, time with my husband, caring for my children, caring for my friends and neighbours) then I don't see the problem.
However, if I find (and I did) that I'm too engrossed in spending time online blogging, catching up with chat groups, etc to care for my children, or plan supper, or clean my house, then obviously something is wrong and I need to limit my time. Which is why I tend to tape shows that I really like - that way I can watch them in my own time and not get mad that I'm missing something b/c I have to be bathing the baby or something.
does that make sense? I don't want to belittle the coffee thing...
Yah, I see it not as being coffee. I see that as just an example for some people. For me I have to watch I don't put my hobbies higher then my kids. I get a lot of joy out of escapism when reading and doing my film editing and I find eventually if I don't unplug and take them in healthy amounts I feel disconnected from my family and my God. If I am filming my life and worrying about the film more then living my life and serving my God I have to watch out. If we put these things in their proper place often God then uses them.
I appreciate your thoughts, here, on this.
I cut out TV about 2 1/2 years ago, because I felt like God wanted me to give it up (though I wasn't sure why). I just knew He was asking me to. Boy, did I fight it. I tried to hold onto it, like- okay, well maybe I'll just cut down to my two favorite shows. Or even one. Or just the shows my husband likes to watch with me. Etc. On and on it went. But He was persistent, and *finally* I said okay.
It was only after I took that step of obedience and was able to see just how much I'd been watching TV, and how monopolizing of my time, attention, conversations, and thoughts- it had been, that I saw why He wanted me to give it up. It had become an idol in my life.
I didn't watch ANYthing for a couple of years but then this past year we did start watching one show again (LOST), and truthfully, TV in general has lost that allure it once had.
Other idols I've struggled with: food, the computer/blogging, books...
Blessings to you and yours!
~Stacy
making little things into big issues?? who me??? Never!!! LOL! okay, okay... I know I can get super intense, I tend to make an overemphasized pendulum swing to get up the momentum to bring me back to a healthy balance. Yeah, I might be shining a lighthouse size beacon on an issue small enough for a pen light... just one of my many idiosyncrasies.
Great discussion here today. I think we all agree, the "things" are not the issue, but our heart's investment in relation to those things is. I don't feel guilty about enjoying coffee, or enjoying watching LOST with P-guy... or reading my subscribed feeds when I get a quiet moment to sit down. If I can enjoy these things without being overly tied to them I will be content.
Two verses came to mind while I was praying about this today.
1 Cor. 6:12 and 2 Peter 2:19
"I am allowed to do all things" but all things are not good for me to do. "I am allowed to do all things" but I will not let anything make me its slave.
..."they themselves are not free. They are slaves of things that will be destroyed. For people are slaves of anything that controls them..."
So how do we know if something is bordering on idolatry or if it is a mere enjoyment? That's the question I'm asking. I think being willing to carefully analyze our actions and choices is a start. And the spirit will surely tug as He did with you Stacy.
I started out by just admitting the things I have strong desires for. Then analyzing those desires and wether they are healthy or overdone got me to the point I am at now. I realized I was a slave to coffee when I seriously looked at my attitude toward it. It was becoming much more than merely my relaxing beverage of choice. Now that I've put it back in it's place I will be able to enjoy it in moderation again.
With LOST I don't like that I would be obsessed with taping it and feel my heart sink if I forgot to set the vcr before going to small group kwim? Who cares? Enjoy it if and when you have the time/opportunity to watch it, but don't give it a second thought if you don't. That's where I want to get to. The clincher with LOST was and is that it has some amazing writer/producers. I justify my addiction to the show by saying "but if I miss an Episode I'll be totally..... LOST!"
On a funny note, P-pumpkin most definitely idolizes the breast (hmmm, wonder who he inherited *that* from). Little stinker. 3 hours, okay, I'll even allow for, but this whole rooting from starvation every two hours attitude is wearing thin.
lololol - totally hear you there (on the boob thing). typical guy huh. ;)
very good discussion.
IMHO~and sorry I was so late for this one!
I'm convicted to share the following:
Not being a coffee drinker myself...until my girlfriend introduced me to Chi tea Frappee, I got hooked BAD..gained weight...spent way to much money @ $4.20 each! This went on for ever
yeah~ I was "kinda addicted".
Still I thought I deserved them saying "I don't ask for much, and hey it taste sooo good and just "chills me out"...those words quit working while in sync with prayers like this daily " to become aware of whatever comes between our relationship Lord"...convicting me slowly to see these things PC is speaking of.
You see it was something I put before HIM innocently enough, He continued to show me that it wasn't good for the "temple of God" this body HE created.
I'm Chi tea FREE, Praise GOD!
I needed HIM to take away the desires of "what I wanted and replace my desires with HIS".
What I find funny is this, when someone tells/shares with us that something isn't good for us and we're not ready to surrender it, we instantly find justification for our reasons to prove our case.
It is what it is...mine was called selfishness.
BTW~ I can't quite picture JESUS with a cup of Joe before starting His day...no pun intended.
Nope He seemed to pick up his bed and set off to work each day.
I continue seek wisdom in this area and stop trying to justify my actions.
Today I'm FREE from having any "unhealthy rituals".
DON'T fool yourselves girls by thinking that those seemlingly "innocent looking urges" are good for you or justifiable...truth is if it's not promoting good health for your body...than it's BAD for you.
PC you are right to say that it seemed OK but you felt pulled from it there's a season for everything,right?
Just a known FACT: The number one leading DRUG in the World is(get this)CAFFINE...need I say more.
Lastly ~isn't it good that HE deals with us all at our own pace.
Have a GREAT Day in the LORD!
so, this is still on my mind today, although I feel like the sand is settling and the waters are calming, which is always nice. Dawn, what you said about the number one drug, and caffeine, it hit home with me. After all, when God first hit me with this coffee thing, it was when I was sitting in judgement of a smoker, remember? And I just felt like He opened my eyes to see that coffee to me was the same issue as a cigarette for a smoker. Absolutely no different. That was very humbling for me. Smokers could use all the same justifications we use for coffee, and there is absolutely. no. difference.
Now, there are two different things in play in my mind. There is addiction, and there is moderate freedom. Is smoking healthy? no. Is it a sin? I would say no. It falls into the category of the passage I shared, all things are permissible to me but not all things are beneficial. Coffee is the same. As is anything taken to excess, well besides water maybe... but think of it, Pepsi is not beneficial, 3/4's of the the things we EAT are not beneficial. slothfulness and unproductiveness are not beneficial (and yes, there are verses to support that too!) to us....
I would think that coffee, like anything that is not a "sin issue" falls into the Romans 15 category, of "let he who drinks, drink as unto the Lord, and let he who does not drink, abstain as unto the Lord." My personal opinion is that if I am going to drink coffee as unto the Lord, it will be minimal and not habitual. Enjoy a cup here and there with my friends, enjoy a cup or maybe even two of de-caf during my day at home, but don't be tied to the cup.
Another passage that came to mind this morning was "be transformed by the renewing of your minds". sometimes things seem "wierd" to us, because our minds are not there, but when you are willing to stop and really examine your actions He brings transforms your thinking.
You are dead on in saying He deals with us all at our own pace, my sister mentioned the whole abstaining from coffee in the morning and desiring Him first, about, oh, say, TWO YEARS ago??? It just flew right over my head. God was dealing with other things in me then, other things that were more important than my morning coffee. That was a lil' rock yet to be brought to the surface of my spiritual garden.
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