I have a couple of theories I have come up with over the years. One of my favorite is the theory of the Pleasure Spectrum. I have taken a lot of mission trips. One of the common observations of people that I take is how happy poor people are. I think my theory came out of a combination of those trips and C.S.Lewis' book entitled Perelandra. It is a very cool book (part 2 of a 3 part space trilogy for those of you who are interested). This is the theory... God made everyone with a very wide range of things that give pleasure. Behold a 4 year old in a bubble bath, playing with a puppy, or sitting in a box. As we get older and have more money we begin to find the things that give us just a little more pleasure than other things. We pick the cashews out of the can of mixed nuts. Pretty soon we are buying just the cashews and we avoid the mixed nuts altogether. We think in our minds that it is increasing our pleasure and so it seems but it is actually working the other way. The older I get and the more money I have the fewer things give me pleasure. I have effectively shrunk my pleasure spectrum. When I was in high school any car made me happy. I had a Volkswagen bug that had not heat or AC, no back seat, no radio, and I was happy as a clam. That car was the best. But back then any car that ran at least half the time seemed like a gift from God. My pleasure spectrum was wide open. Now I drive an Audi A-6. It is SAWEEET! But instead of creating more pleasure in my life it has made it so I can never go back to the VW. Do you see? Pretty soon there will be only a handful of cars that will give me pleasure. The same is becoming true of restaurants, vacation spots, and bath towels. This is the season of Lent. People give up things for the 40 days before Easter. People will moan and complain as they go without sugar or coffee or chocolate. But what they don't know is they are really giving themselves a gift. In 40 days their pleasure spectrum will widen ever so slightly and the world will burst with pleasure...for a time. Every year I take a couple of mission trips. There are all kinds of things I get out of the trips but one of my biggest surprises is the gift of increased pleasure when I get home. It is not the increase in intensity but in the number of things that carry with them little bursts of pleasure. So now, I take some special effort to not pick the cashews out or always have my favorite towel after a shower. I will also keep in mind that when my day is filled with inconveniences and even pain then my pleasure spectrum is opening wide and in no time there will be 1000 more things that will give me pleasure tomorrow that I missed today.
Friday, February 8, 2008
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Joe, I like your Pleasure Spectrum theory. Your example of the car reminds me of a Doctor I knew when I was very young. Doc always drove VW vans and or some ugly car that reminded me more of bubble than a car. His choice did not make sense to me because Doc could afford any car he wanted. So why not drive a car that is sporty and fast? Then one day I saw Doc drive past my home in a new bright red 65 GTO convertible. WOW! A few minutes later his son calls to say you have to see my Dads’ new car. Doc had arrived. Two years later he bought another GTO convertible. I enjoyed every ride I took in those GTO convertibles. A year or so after Doc purchased the second GTO, to my amazement, I saw him drive past the house for several days in a VW. Why would he give up a GTO convertible for another VW? A day or so had passed when I mustered up enough courage to ask Doc if it was true that his beautiful sporty GTO had been replaced by a VW. I will never forget what Doc said, "The more I drove the GTO that I wanted so much…the more I grew to feel indifferent towards it." "But now, as in the past, the more I drive my VW…the more I grow to appreciate it." When I get this urge, as I often do, to up-grade to newer- bigger-better than what I currently have, Docs’ response to my question about the GTO vs VW comes to mind.home in a new bright red 65 GTO convertible. WOW! A few minutes later his son calls to say you have to see my Dads new car. Doc had arrived. Two years later he bought another GTO convertible. I enjoyed every ride I took in those GTO convertibles. A year or so after Doc purchased the second GTO, to my amazement, I saw him drive past the house for several days in a VW. Why would he give up a GTO convertible for another VW? A day or so had pasted when I mustered up enough courage to ask Doc if it was true that his beautiful sporty GTO had been replaced by a VW. I will never forget what Doc said, "The more I drove the GTO that I wanted so much…the more I grew to feel indifferent towards it." "But now, as in the past, the more I drive the VW…the more I grow to appreciate it." When I get this urge, as I often do, to up-grade to newer- bigger-better than what I currently have, Doc’s response to my question about the GTO vs VW comes to mind.
I'm so sorry. I clicked publish when I meant to click edit in the comment above. Rookie Blogger.
If you'd like to give up your car for Lent - Let me know - we can trade!
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