Diversion...Why does contentment elude us?

Pascal's
Pensées
Week 2 - July 24, 2014


How is your reading going?  Do you ever find yourself distracted by other activities?  Perhaps you are dabbling in diversion.

Life in our society is full of diversions: shopping, hobbies, internet surfing, sports, television and movie viewing, reading, hanging out with friends, Facebook, home improvement projects, physical exercise...and the list goes on.  During the summer we hope to get some rest, and yet we tend to fill our free time with all the activities we want to do but can't the rest of the year because of our work schedule or the weather.  Sometimes we sense the weight of these diversions weighing us down, or distracting us from spending time with our thoughts - thinking through some of our own pensees.

Can Pascal shed any light of wisdom on our predicament?  Pascal sees diversion as something very much at the heart of the human condition - in his view, even international warfare springs from this source!  Helpful for those of us living in the year 2014 is the insight that diversion was just as much a core motivating factor of human behavior in Pascal's day as in ours.  Some of the diversions are different, but many Pascal describes in his day are still the same, including gambling, sport hunting, adventure travel, & career ambition.


Pense #139
Penguin, p. 37 (VIII.136)
Classic, p. 39

"Diversion.

...I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber.

...I have sought to discover the reason of it, I have found that there is one very real reason, namely, the natural poverty of our feeble and mortal condition, so miserable that nothing can comfort us when we think of it closely.

...They have a secret instinct which impels them to seek amusement and occupation abroad, and which arises from the sense of their constant unhappiness.

...But will you say what object has he in all this? The pleasure of bragging tomorrow among his friends that has played better than another.

...However full of sadness a man may be, he will soon be discontented and wretched, if he be not diverted and occupied by some passion or pursuit which prevents weariness from overcoming him."



Reflection Questions:
Feel free to use the comments link below to post your thoughtful responses

• Why do you think we find it so difficult to "stay quietly in our own chamber?"

• What is your experience of avoiding solitude, deep thoughtfulness, or prayer?  

• How might this thought connect with the Christian life?  Consider what the Apostle Paul writes about in Philippians regarding contentment and God's provision (see below).  In what ways might you explore a deeper, abiding sense of contentedness based on God's provision? 

• Pascal mentioned that our human condition is so miserable that nothing can comfort us when we think of it closely. How might the Heidelberg Catechism give us hope? (Hint: Read Question 1 and its corresponding answer, below)

Philippians 4:10-13 ... CONTENTMENT
¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:19-20 ... GOD PROVIDES
¹⁹ And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.  ²⁰ To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Heidelberg Catechism

Q. 1. What is your only comfort, in life and in death?

A. That I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.