Then the ruler said, “I’ve kept all these things since I was a boy.” (Luke 18:21, Common English Bible)
Rising COVID numbers, of course, put the kibosh on a lot of holiday events so on New Year’s Eve, my family kept things simple. My kids had a great idea: We’re all fans of root beer so, they asked, what if we had a blind taste test to find out what’s the best root beer? The root beers we ended up selecting were chosen more for availability/accessibility rather than top root beers we’ve had over the years (they debated going to a Culver’s to pick up one of their root beers, but decided it wasn’t worth an extra trip).
My kids and I were the tasters and my wife was the moderator who set up the glasses so that we wouldn’t know which ones were which. It was a fun process! I’d never paid so much attention to drinking root beer before and we all made little notes on pieces of paper (“smooth,” “too sweet,” “tastes like root beer barrel candy”). We tried to guess which root beers were which and then we ranked our favorites. The winners? Ethan and I chose Sprecher’s as our top choice and Caroline chose Sioux City.
It was a fun little experiment, but it also fed into my sometimes unhealthy desire to know which is the best of the best. I’m not sure if this is a uniquely American thing or the side effects of capitalism or what, but it’s something I have to watch about myself. When I want to find something out, I may do an internet search of “best places to buy coffee” or “top 10 things to see in (possible vacation spot).” I think, surely, there is an objective BEST thing and I MUST do that or else the experience won’t be as good. Which is all kind of silly.
There’s a story in Luke 18 of a certain ruler who approaches Jesus and asks how to obtain eternal life. Jesus responds at first not with an answer, but with a question (“Why do you call me good?”). He then names a couple of the commandments, like don’t commit adultery and don’t bear false witness. I kind of wonder if Jesus says this not to give definitive answers, but to get at the core of who this ruler is. Anyway, the ruler’s quick response is, “I’ve kept all of these things since I was a boy.” There are a whole lot of ways to interpret what he might have been thinking. Was it pride? “I’ve done all of these things for years! Yay me!” Or was it an inability to be content? “Yeah, yeah, I’ve done all that. But what is the BEST thing I should do?” It’s impossible to know and we find out later that the ruler is wealthy so either guess could be true.
Whenever I see my spiritual director, I find myself asking, “What more can I do to go deeper in my faith? What’s the best spiritual practice?” I think that’s the kind of question that can never be answered and the kind of attitude that will never be satisfied. There isn’t a best way. There are many ways and some will work better than others.
The race to find or be the best–especially when it comes to our faith lives–is a race best left alone, I think. God has provided ample ways for us to draw closer. Find one. Try it out, even if someone else has scoffed at it. And then try something else next week. I’ve been trying a new practice lately called visio divina where one focus on a piece of art rather than a Bible passage (like lectio divina). At first, I wasn’t so sure about it (isn’t reading the Bible the best thing to do in my prayer time?), but it’s become a wonderful practice that has opened up new possibilities.
We follow Someone who said something about the last being first and vice versa. For those who strive to be the best, being content with 5th place–both in root-beer tasting and faith formation–is OK, too.