I have an app that grants its users virtual rewards for performing real self-care tasks. “Wake up!” it chirps at me each morning, followed by “Make your bed!” and “Enjoy a shower!” I complete these and a couple dozen other tasks and then click a button. With each task, a little fake confetti explodes joyfully on my phone screen and I collect a few fabricated gemstones. Even though I know it’s an algorithmic celebration, not a natural one, the dopamine hit with each of those confetti explosions is real.
There [Peter] found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, for he was paralyzed. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!” And immediately he got up. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. – Acts 9:33-35 (NRSV)
I wonder what Aeneas’ dopamine response was to his healing. He had been bedridden for almost a decade when Peter commanded him to jump up and perform a little job. I wonder if, for the rest of his life, he associated his healing with making his bed. If so, was this little chore a celebration every day? Or, in time, did both the healing and the task become commonplace? What did it take for him (or really for any of us) to rejoice daily in both the miraculous and the mundane?
My ultimate goal is to train my brain to associate my morning tasks with a tiny high so I can just bypass the app altogether. But in the meantime, I’m going to click “finish writing” on my phone and celebrate.
Prayer
Healing Friend, guide us to naturally rejoice in it all, every single day. Amen.
About the Author
Rev. Jennifer Garrison (formerly Brownell) is a writer, spiritual director and pastor living in the Pacific Northwest. Her published work most recently appeared in the book The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle, available from The Pilgrim Press.