The greatest blog post of all time

“Write the greatest blog post of all time.”

So whispers something from deep in the shadows of my soul.

It’s the same shadow that whispers to me that I have to be the best/greatest/winner at everything I do. And being my shadow, it’s been stalking me since I first noticed it around preschool.

“You have to write the greatest blog post of all time.”

Yes, yes. I have to. I have to, or…

What?

What happens if I don’t write the greatest blog post of all time?

And if I do write the greatest blog post, how will I know?

Likes? Shares?

Getting linked by Rob Bell?

Publishers calling to ask for a book manuscript?

Do they give out Pulitzers for blog posts?

Does the title of “Greatest Blog Post of All Time” have to be a unanimous choice by all English-reading people in the world? What about the people who don’t vote for my blog post? Can it really be the greatest if some people think other blog posts are better?

And speaking of English, how well does this blog post translate into other languages? It can’t really be the greatest of all time if the majority of humanity cannot read it. How will people in North Korea even access it?

Will the clouds part and God declare that this blog post is so great that is has come to his attention in the highest heavens?

Yes, this is ridiculous.

But only when I think about it this way.

When I don’t think about it this way, I’m performing for my shadow. Striving to be the greatest.

At what?

At anything. Everything.

Striving…to capture a shadow.

Impossible.

Vain.

Sinful.

Tragic.

So normal.

You know the feeling, don’t you?

You’re chasing your own shadows, too. Yes?

How and when did we start believing that we have to be the best/greatest/winner of everything we do?

I don’t know. How did driving home on the Interstate become a competition on which we stake our very human dignity and worth? What prize do you get for winning the stuff we try to win at every day?

The more we try to satisfy the shadow, the more we disfigure ourselves.

We destroy the beauty and joy and wonder of life for the sake of life.

The things we get to do each day could be such sweet communion between our spirits and the Spirit of God.

Rather than communion, we end up with confusion and contention because of our striving and vanity.

Life with our fellow humans could be so sweet if not for our obsession with impressing, if not beating, them all.

Are we born and called to create for competition and consumption?

Or are we born and called to create in a carefree way that opens us up to community and compassion?

Thank God this does not have to be the greatest blog post of all time.

Thank God for the beauty and fulfillment that come simply from reading and writing alone each morning. And for the occasional moment when I know what I wrote encourages someone. The enjoyment and value of this gift is the same whether I’m the only person who ever reads it or it makes its way to a million strangers.

Where are you striving today? Where is the shadow taking over?

Don’t take that shit.

Take the gift. It’s from heaven for you to enjoy.

You can’t be the greatest of all time.

But you can enjoy the greatest gifts all of your time.