Pick A Minor Ecstasy

Psalm 144:9 says: “I will sing a new song to thee, O God.” For some of us, the song has gone sour. For some, life has become drudgery, not joy.

Why? What is it that moves us? What starts us into the day with a sense of meaning and purpose? How do we get the joy back into life again?

A big dog saw a little dog chasing its tail, and asked, “Why are you chasing your tail so?” Said the puppy, “I have mastered philosophy. I have solved the problems of the universe which no dog before me has rightly solved. I have learned that the best thing for a dog is happiness, and that happiness is in my tail. Therefore, I am chasing it; and when I catch it, I shall have it.”

Said the old dog, “My son, I too have paid attention to the problems of the universe in my weak way, and formed some opinions. I too have judged that happiness is a fine thing for a dog, and that happiness is in my tail. But I have noticed that when I chase it, it keeps running away from me; but when I go about my business, it comes right along behind me.”

We need vacations, hobbies, joyous moments with great music. We all need a kind of tail-chasing ecstasy, to take away the drabness, the sameness, and the boredom of daily tasks. But if we pick it properly, it will help us to maintain our major priorities.

The disciple, Peter, loved to fish, but Jesus changed his priorities, and he became a “fisher of men.” He learned that when he went about his major business of seeking Christ’s Kingdom, the minor ecstasy was still there to pull him out of a fatal nose-dive!

Pick one for yourself…a minor ecstasy, that is. Try “following a smile,” for example. Smile at someone, and then watch it move on like a chain reaction. One of the poets asked, “Have you had a kindness shown? Pass it on! ‘Twas not given to you alone! Pass it on! Let it travel down the years, let is wipe another’s tears, ‘Till in heaven the deed appears. Pass it on.”

Someone once said, “A hobby is something you go nuts about, in order to keep from going crazy.” These are pleasant “minor ecstasies”. They keep us alert, alive, and going straight in our major tasks.

Have you seen the modern kites? They’ve gone professional. Some have elaborate 50 foot tails which seem like needless appendages! But without them, the kite will not fly. Happiness in the tail may not be everything. But like the old dog, we discover that when we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then the joy, the happiness, the significance to life seems to come along quite naturally too. Work at it, and you will once again, be able to “sing a new song unto the Lord”…one that will lift you out of the blues, into joy.