Works of Love - part 2

What does comparison lose? It loses the moment, the moment which should be filled with an expression of the life of love.
- Søren Kierkegaard

I am learning so much from this book, and it is challenging me in so many ways, I thought it would be a good idea to split up some musings on a different section into another post. So, this is the second.

I would be remiss not to reflect on the extreme nature of comparison in our society. It is stronger today than ever in history, thanks to social media. As we scroll through our feeds we see everyone else's seemingly successful, beautiful lives, and in reality we only catch a momentary glimpse into someone's life, but it can be the tendency for us to see that and immediately compare our own situation to that which shows up in our feed. We could then immediately lose our joy in a split second, and all from a brief glimpse into someone else's life. Kierkegaard saw this in his day, and saw where it would lead. 

He saw how this can happen in our daily life just as much, especially at work. If we pay attention we might catch ourselves comparing ourselves to co-workers, even when each person has a different role.

We lose it all in comparison. If we look at someone else's good fortune or good marriage and compare that to your own singleness or lower income, we lose the joy of our independence and ability for solo adventures, and we lose the opportunities to fully appreciate our own blessings that fall upon us. At the same time, we are missing the struggles that come with marriage and high income. Suddenly our image of these things is skewed, not representing a realistic picture at all. Comparison is a dangerous road to go down because it does dwell in images that are an idealized picture of something that we will never live up to. 

Our comparisons are locked in the finite. They lose sight of the infinite importance. I don't know about you, but I would much rather be working for the glory of the kingdom of God than for the glory of this world. That is the challenge that is before us.