Choosing Not to Chase

You haven’t bothered to listen when the Holy One told you: “Turn now from your evil path and wicked deeds. Don’t chase after other gods to worship and serve them. Don’t antagonize me with your efforts.” – Jeremiah 25:4-6 (adapted) 

You can’t chase anything on a stationary bike.  

It’s not unlike a hamster wheel, except people think you’re doing something athletic rather than something pointless. 

I need pointless once in a while. A bike without a destination, an art project without a display case, a poem without publication, an activity without a goal to chase. 

Chasing doesn’t do my spirit much good. It tends to strangle my peace and feed my anxiety. It capitalizes on my frustrations and manipulates my boredom, tantalizing me with visions of new goals and greener grass. So a bit of stationary pedaling is a helpful diversion to chasing mirages down rabbit holes of discontent. 

Chasing doesn’t do humanity many favors either. 

We chase achievement into competition. We pursue acclaim like the Fountain of Youth, stability like the Garden of Eden, power like it’s Helen of Troy. We chase gods of wealth, health, and happiness, and in their worship we trip over greed, frailty, and disappointment. 

Like the ancient Judeans chasing the next best god for political security, our restless racing leads to our own harm.  

Even “good gods” become troublesome when we idolize them as trophies to chase, as pinnacles to conquer. Chase love, chase justice, chase peace, and the salvific pedestals on which we place them are discovered to be less pristine—and more human—than we envision. 

No matter how hard we chase, we never outrun ourselves. 

God has given us the fullness of life and the courage to live within it—not chase after it. 

Prayer
What gods can offer me more than you have already given, O God?