Is This All There Is?

Discontent and Deficiency

Some more thoughts on the problem with “more”.

On the new Mumford & Sons album there is a song called “Alleycat”.

It’s a remembering song, looking back to growing up, to being a child in summer time.
There is a repeated refrain in the song that got me thinking again about the evangelical and neo-charismatic pull for MORE, MORE, MORE.

The refrain, written as a piece of conversation is,
Is this all there is?
What do you mean? Is this not enough for you?

It’s catchy, too. It can stay in your head.

I saw it within evangelical church culture, showing up even more in the neo-charismatic strains of that world - the consistent declaration that something was missing, that more was needed. This could be more in terms of spiritual power, more in terms of miraculous signs, more in terms of depth of faith (mostly for other people), more in terms of radical, intense experience of God’s presence.

And over that I hear the refrain again,
Is this all there is?
What do you mean? Is this not enough for you?

If you’ve been in church contexts or read much scripture, then you might remember the passage:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

This is from Philippians chapter 4, where Paul is speaking about his material circumstances. While it might not be a direct parallel, the consideration of other things in life is worthwhile here.

God is everywhere present and sufficient for all your needs. Yet, so often in religious circles, we teach and use discontent.

The sense that there is not enough can be used to judge others or to market spirituality and church to them like a product. As someone who was a pastor for many decades in the evangelical church, I can say that I knew a good number of people, some of them heralded or self-proclaimed as truly Christian, whose basic approach to church (and often to other people) was, “I have learned to be discontent whatever the circumstances.” They were keenly aware of what was missing in the church, with other Christians, sometimes with their own adult children and with society as a whole.

When I heard the Mumford & Sons song, I found myself recollecting the past and wanting to sing the second line to them, in a loving, not judgy way:
They say, Is this all there is?
And I say, What do you mean? Is this not enough for you?

I remember Eugene Peterson, when he was at Regent College in Vancouver, where I studied, pointing out that the longest narrative of a life in the Bible is the narrative of David. There is certainly more material about Jesus, but the Bible tells us more about David’s life, each stage; about his family and the moments of joy and pain. Peterson further points out (and this seems to be what he is after in telling us) that David’s life is extensively narrated, that there are no miracles in David’s life. Sure, he says, there is the Goliath encounter, but that is as much of a good shot as it is a miracle. There are no Holy-Ghost-power, water-to-wine, one-leg-shorter-than-the-other, I-was-blind-but-now-I-see miracles.

And yet, David is known as one after God’s own heart. Why did he not want MORE!?
Why would one after God’s own heart not be one who offered an example of desire for supernatural spectacle?

The problem of always wanting more or different is not endemic only in the evangelical church. It comes up often in parenting as well. Church and society as a whole can shape people to approach their own loved ones as if their loved ones are deficient in some way - deficient intellectually, deficient in terms of ambition, or deficient spiritually and religiously.

Now, instead of thinking of someone once known in church who is often discontent, I think of a parent who is struggling to come to terms with who their child is. I hear the refrain again, this time in the context of a parent with their teenaged or adult child:
Is this all there is?
What do you mean? Is this not enough for you?

I know that the counterbalance to this is the tendency to think that are children are just exceptional all the time. Of course, by definition, if everyone is exceptional than no one is. I coached hockey for a decade or so. I have seen that culture in Canada in which some parents (not all by any means) think that THEIR child is destined for hockey glory - to the NHL and beyond!

In a way, that way of seeing demonstrates the same kind of thinking as the spiritual discontent. Simply playing hockey recreationally, learning what it means to be part of a team, meeting others, developing skills, learning to deal with losing and winning is not enough.

And the refrain again:
Is this all there is?
What do you mean? Is this not enough for you?

Your church is enough. Your child is enough. This winter and the coming spring and summer and fall is enough.

In no way am I implying that we ought not to help one another with the challenges in our lives. There are hurdles in our path. There are things to work through and to get past.

However, if your general approach is longing for more, you will miss what is here now, today. And there is a lot, so much, here, right now, today. If you can’t see the beauty of the world, if you can’t see the abiding presence of God in the reality of your circumstance right now, then you are unlikely to truly see God’s presence in miraculous, supernatural manifestation.

So then the song’s refrain becomes a prayer, a piece of conversation with Jesus:
Is this all there is? (I say or you say)
And Jesus’ loving words in response:
What do you mean? Is this not enough for you?