[Guilty] Pleasures

The Friday Five yesterday was about guilty pleasures.

I'm not sure anything should be a guilty pleasure. If you are enjoying yourself, then do it. If you're are not, then don't. If you're finding pleasure in something you should NOT be doing- exploitation, abuse of self or others, pain, destruction- stop and get help.

Otherwise, I like to abide by this passage, Ecclesiastes 3:9-14:

9 What gain have the workers from their toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. 11 He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13 moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 14 I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.

I love that passage so much that I chose it for the Hebrew Scripture reading at my ordination.

So, I take pleasure as seriously as anything else, which probably means too seriously.

Five things that I do [unexpectedly] enjoy:

1. Ham. I love ham. I don't eat it that often because my husband is not really a fan. Consequently, I consume a large amount if there is ham nearby.

2. Pens. I like to have all kinds of pens at hand- colors, ink types, point size. The number of pens that I have mean that this has passed necessity and gone into pleasure.

3. Candied fennel seed. Delicious. Hard to find. Little jars occasionally round my purchases from a certain online retailer- just to reach the free shipping threshold, of course.

4. Romance novels. Not all kinds, not all the time- but smart heroines, smart heroes, precarious situations... ah, escapism.

5. Jell-o. I love Jell-o. Love the "salads". Love the molds. Love to drink it warm. Mmm, jell-o.

Frankly, I don't feel guilty about any of these things. They don't interfere with my regular life, make up large parts of my diet, or consume [too much] of my discretionary income. They're all suitable for their time, just as God intended.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to read this book until my ham is done and the Jell-o is set. I also need to put candied fennel seeds shopping list. Where's my pen?

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