En-Joy or A-Muse?
Pouring In or Hollowing Out
Would you rather enjoy something or be amused by it? Pondering this question has brought me to a realization of opportunities for joy to come pouring in or for my mind to experience hollowing out.
Note. This is my granddaughter and one of our dogs. The first thing she wants to do after awakening is run to find and greet this dog, crazy bed-hair and all. I offer this picture to bring you joy.
My Mysterious Mind
I love musing. Immersing deeply in my own thoughts, feelings, and sensations is an enjoyable hobby for me. As a third born child living on a farm, I learned to be good company to myself. I read books, wrote poetry, listened to music, and took long walks. I enjoyed being responsible for entertaining myself. Over the decades since my childhood, not much has changed in my love of musing.
My musing this week has focused on two words, enjoy and amuse. The word “enjoy” is very familiar and used often. As I ponder the word I see two parts, “en” and “joy.” The first part means to “put something in.” To “en-joy” is to put joy in.
Amuse is quite different. The word also consists of two parts, “a” and “muse.” I like the second part, as musing is one of my favorite pastimes. But to put an “a” as the prefix represents a troubling shift. Such an addition means “not,” such as in “atypical” which means “not typical.”
To “a-muse” means to distract or divert in a pleasurable manner. To amuse is to redirect attention away from one’s own musing. Sit-coms are intended to be amusing, to bring laughter from shallow humor. Passing time with the amusement of video games is a way to escape from thinking.
That probably explains why I don’t like sit-coms or video games. I like musing and dislike being a-mused. I enjoy laughing, but only if my mind is engaged. My preference is clever jokes and whimsical exchanges with someone I like. Those activities I “en-joy” – my mind is involved in a process of bringing joy into my being.
All of this has me thinking about the intrusion of amusements for which only shallow thinking is required. Games on smartphones. Online gambling. Doom scrolling on social media. Netflix binging. Such uses of time shut down the mind in exchange for temporary amusement. What is the long-term impact on our ability to muse? Are such amusements, when used often, hollowing out our minds?
I would rather en-joy my time, either with myself or with someone else. Granted, it’s harder for me to just play. I acknowledge that people with less enjoyment in the activity of musing are probably less introspective and prone to melancholy. Setting aside amusement, I’d like to focus this message mostly on enjoyment. What does it mean to enjoy something? What are sources of enjoyment? To “en-joy” or bring joy in can pour into our beings, rather than just hollowing out our minds with what “a-muses.”
Message of Mystery Acres
Being in the forest is definitely one of my favorite things. It’s a wonderful place to muse. My mind can be infused with sights and sounds of nature, prompting beautiful, deep reflections. Perhaps it brings me back to my younger years where I had access to many acres on which to roam by myself.
It is, of course, possible to be distracted from the potential joy of the forest even while immersed in it. This has happened when something becomes frustrating, such as covering the motorhome with tarps or being unable to find some needed item in one of the possible storage compartments where it is hiding. Such distractions are not amusing, but they do prevent joy from entering in.
Nature offers joy from every direction; we need only to pause and let it in and avoid the temptations leading to a distracted mind. Joy is waiting for opportunity to pour in; such avenues patiently linger in sights, sounds, smells, and tactile sensations. Offerings of joy await in the wonders of wildflowers, some so tiny only the focused eye can discover them. Unlimited prospects of rocks lie below, each with its possibility of fossils or unique shapes and contours. The grasses bend gracefully in response to the invisible hand of the dancing wind. An occasional butterfly drifts silently past, only noticeable to the non-distracted mind. And so much more!
The message of Mystery Acres calls for the quiet mind and the observant heart to enjoy its many offerings. Pause. Become still. Watch patiently. Listen carefully.
Let joy in.
Ancient Mystery’s Voice
“I commend the enjoyment of life.” (Solomon in Ecclesiastes 8:15)
A very wealthy man in ancient times, Solomon was king over the Jewish people. His one request from God was for wisdom. Apparently, Solomon, like me, enjoyed the activity of musing and wanted plenty of wisdom to fuel his times of reflection.
Known as a man of great wisdom; Solomon is also credited for authoring a philosophical book contained in the Bible, Ecclesiastes. This book is famous for inspiring the song by The Byrds, with its recurrent chorus of “to everything there is a season, turn, turn, turn.” A well-known phrase from the book, the result of Solomon’s pursuit of meaning, is “this too, is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” He wrote of many ways life might be hollowed out of its meaning.
In his pursuit of meaning, Solomon tried pretty much everything and had tremendous power and wealth for his exploration. Solomon wrote:
“I thought in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.’ But that also proved meaningless. ‘Laughter,’ I said, ‘is foolish. What does pleasure accomplish?’ I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly. . . I undertook great projects. . . everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” (Ecc. 2: 1-4; 11)
Solomon’s meandering of intellectual musing contains a few pieces of advice. One of them is this: “I commend enjoyment of life” (Ecclesiastes 8:15). His existential angst found comfort in eating, drinking and simpleproductivity. His book is a complicated dissertation with a surprisingly simplistic conclusion. He tried amusing himself with women, wine, and obsessive projects but found no meaning in such pursuits.
Ancient Mystery’s Voice, recorded in the words of Solomon are to avoid the meaningless pursuit of pleasure and grand projects. Rather, given the finite nature of life, he recommends enjoying the simple activity of getting things done and finding pleasure in the nourishment needed to sustain your life. Throughout the many seasons of life, these sources of joy remain constant. We need to eat and drink; and there is always something to do. Solomon commends enjoyment of life, but not pointless amusement.
Living in Mystery
What does it mean to live in the mystery of “en-joy or a-muse,” pouring in rather than being hollowed out? It starts with recognizing our heart’s longing to feel good. Such pleasure can come from a mind that is distracted from its worries by amusement or from a heart that welcomes the entrance of joy waiting all around. It’s quite human to want to feel what is pleasant; the methods to get to that feeling are worth pondering.
Assess the activities to which you turn for recreation. Chasing the temporary pleasure of some activities can lay the foundation for addiction. What starts as a way to be amused, to stop the mind from thinking about something, can become an unhealthy habit. The path of amusement can hollow out the mind’s awareness and lead to a trap. Digital games and social media are not harmful unless such amusement becomes quicksand from which escape is difficult. Think about what you do to amuse yourself and whether you are trapped by it. If you are trapped, get out so you can engage your mind, and, with an open heart, let joy in. Joy satisfies the thirst within you for what is good.
Beware of what prevents joy from entering your being. Distractions, including hollowing-out amusements, prevent joy’s entrance. The experience of joy requires an engaged mind and an open heart. Joy happens from full immersion into a moment of life. Worry, devices, and frustrations prevent the pouring in of joy. Limit such barriers to joy. Instead, let joy in.
Because life requires eating and drinking, consider the utensils and dishes you use. Eat with lovely silverware and use pretty plates. Drink from beautiful glasses, preferably made of glass. Wash dishes with good washcloths and dry the dishes with cheerful towels. Let joy in at every meal.
I realized while writing this message to you that I needed to make some changes for myself. Our daily silverware is a rag tag mixture of unmatched styles and forks with bent tines. The kitchen towels are mostly worn, faded, and stained. Thus, I ordered new silverware for daily use and cheerful kitchen towels. Soon every meal will be eaten with joy-bearing forks and dishes dried with joy-offering towels.
I’m preparing to let joy in.
Our hearts long for what feels good. Such longing can be temporarily quieted through superficial amusements but is satisfied more deeply by experiences of joy. It isn’t hard to find joy, but it does require intention. Joy can be found in the simple pleasures of eating and drinking, but only when there is sufficient focus of an engaged mind and adequate receptiveness of an open heart. Without focus, joy can be missed by going through the motions of daily life. The wonders of nature wait patiently for us to slow down and experience what provides joy to our being. Beware the hollowing-out of what amuses. Seek instead to enjoy life. Let joy in.
Connecting with Mystery
Dear Lord of All Mystery, in a world of great trouble and suffering, my heart longs to feel good. Show me where I am turning to what hollows out my mind with shallow amusements. Guide me instead to how I can more fully enjoy the life You have provided for me. Thank You for helping me let joy in. Amen.
Notes from Dr. Mac
If you want to do your own investigation of any of the scriptures I use, try Bible Gateway. The book of Ecclesiastes is a place to ponder life, its pointless amusements and its profound joys.
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