My oldest daughter recently decided she wanted to be a Rubik’s Cuber (Cubist? We are still new to this world). She and I spent the better part of two days watching YouTube tutorials and practicing until we could not only solve one but could do so pretty quickly. Even when she wasn’t around, I found myself picking up the Cube and trying to improve my game. The mental stimulation was super satisfying, and learning a new skill alongside my kid was fun, too. My husband joked when he found me, Cube in hand, one morning, “You have a problem.”
And he was right. I did find myself wanting to practice more, even at the expense of my quiet time with the Lord and some of my routine tasks around the house. It took a few days for the initial novelty to wear off, but I still enjoy keeping the skill fresh a couple of times a day. But it had me thinking: When does being a Rubik’s Cube hobbyist become idolatry? Is wanting to spend time practicing or learning more intrinsically wrong? And, in a broader sense, how do we know if our non-Jesus, non-vocational pursuits—I’m talking exercising, reading, hobbies, video games, etc.—are vices we need to cut from our lives or are activities we can enjoy in moderation?
I don’t know for certain, but my husband’s response seemed to prompt me to reflect. While he teased me about my newfound fascination, he truly didn’t really care if I spent extra time learning something new, even if I was a little slower on getting to dinner prep. He is generally supportive of my developing a hobby or cultivating new friendships and skills; he is willing to sacrifice his time for my edification. While he doesn’t want to lose me to a hobby, he also trusts me to be considerate as I try new things. In fact, his willingness to make space for my interests makes me love him more and remember that I need to prioritize correctly.
The best Lover, Jesus cares for us so deeply, so intimately and desires our time and attention through prayer. He wants to hear what is going on in our lives, and He wants to share with us, too. But while He wants what is best for us, which often means prioritizing our faith, family, and vocations, He also wants us to live life deeply—spending time with friends, cultivating our interests and skills, and being able to grow spiritually, physically, emotionally, and personally. I think Jesus is happy for us when we feel excited about a new pastime and it occupies our thoughts, as long as He can sense from us that our redirected brains aren’t trying to be away from Him but are caught up in the excitement of something new and stimulating. After all, many of these good desires come from him, and Jesus is even better than a limited human in that He can be present with us in all of those things if we invite Him to be.
Of course, we have to be guarded against becoming lax, allowing sloth or idolatry of our pursuits to replace Jesus’s place as our number one priority. Viewing our relationship with Jesus through the lens of a spousal relationship can show us when our interests are usurping His place. We sense when our time with or attention to our spouse has changed, and we redirect if we can see our spouse needs us or we aren’t showing up the way we need to; similarly, we can assess our relationship with the Lord. Here are some questions we might ask Jesus as we discern whether our time is being spent well:
- Am I pushing You away in favor of my hobby when I sense You need me or are calling me to time with You?
- Am I consistently neglecting necessary responsibilities or relationships in favor of my hobby?
- Does this interest draw me toward holiness, toward what is good, true and beautiful? Does it call me into a better version of myself? Is it useful and edifying?
- Does this activity cause me to sin or take my time away from developing my relationship with You?
The Church puts no prohibitions on reading books, watching TV, playing video games, exercising regularly, or baking bread—but most of us have an innate sense of when such activities begin to lead us away from Christ. And when that happens, we can begin to ask what parameters we need to impose in order to ensure our lives are correctly ordered. Continually coming to Jesus in prayer and a spirit of discernment is necessary, so He can guide us with His wisdom.
Jesus’s love for us is perfectly divine but also perfectly human. He wants us to enjoy our humanity—the ability to use our bodies for building things or playing sports, our minds for creating art or imagining new worlds, and the like. He wants us to continually become the best versions of ourselves, both by growing in holiness but also by using our gifts and cultivating new ones. Like the world’s most supportive, loving Spouse, Jesus cheers us on as we become fully alive, body and soul—as we learn to pray deeply and live virtuously but also pursue new hobbies and grow with one another while doing so.
