From the

Official News Magazine of the Diocese of Spokane

Spirituality: What ya doin’ that for?

by Father Michael Savelesky, for the Inland Register

(From the Aug. 22, 2002 edition of the Inland Register)

It seems these days that television commercials often are far more interesting and entertaining than many of the programs which grace the screen in between their moments of glory. There’s one series of commercials which recently has caught my attention - perhaps because the advertisements feature my old childhood breakfast cereal, Cheerios.

One commercial in this series is my particular favorite. The scene opens with a little inquisitive girl lovingly watching her daddy gobble down a bowl of Cheerios in his rush to head off to work. With that characteristic tilt of the head and furling of the forehead that demonstrate that a child is about to pose a question of cosmic dimensions, she asks, “Daddy, why are you eating Cheerios for breakfast?” (Her query betrays the prejudice that such delicacies are reserved for children.)

“Well ... because they are good for Daddy’s heart,” Dad pops back with resonant, assuring voice. Later at work he is surprised by the discovery of a handful of Cheerios in his coat pocket — the gift of a sincerely concerned daughter.

This commercial makes me think of all children (including ourselves, at some point in time) who pass through their inquisitive years. The world is full of awe and wonder and we eagerly seek out the connection between all sorts of things. We may not have asked our Dads why they ate Cheerios for breakfast, but we did have a zillion of “What ya doin’ that for?”-type of questions. Whether it was washing the car, shaving, whipping up a batch of cookies or spraying for ants, it all caught our attention and we just wanted to know the Why of it all. Built into our young consciousness was the fact that life ultimately has connection, direction and purpose.

As we grow older we cease asking such childish questions. After all, do we not know why we do what we do? The reason seems to be readily obvious.

It is true that we do do a lot of things. Just ask any adult for a peek at their social calendar and then add all the responsibilities of daily life, like work and raising a family. However, were an inquisitive child to stop us in our tracks at any given moment and ask us why we are doing what we are doing, I wonder if we always would have a good answer. Eating Cheerios because they are good for one’s heart may be a clever response, but what would we say to someone who asked us why we go to school? Why we spend hours and hours at work? Why we go shopping? Why we buy this or that article? Why we go to this or that movie? Why we live in this house or own that car?

“What ya doin’ that for?” is an especially good question to ponder this time of year as we begin preparations for another school year — or, for many of us in the Church, another year of ministry and parish activity. There is not doubt that we certainly do get engaged in a lot of activity. And our planning calendars and date books start turning darker, page after page, as the anticipated year progresses. These days preceding the startup of the academic year can become a bit depressing because of their sense of déja vu —already been there; done that. Perhaps if someone asked us why a particular event is scheduled for a particular date (like March 4, 2003) we may want to respond: Because we always do such-and-such on that date.

In light of Christian spirituality, such an answer is inadequate. Any time we find ourselves doing things just because “that’s what we always do,” we come close to lapsing into a pagan sense of time where life takes on meaning only because a necessary cycle of events traps us and makes it so. It is hard to break out of such a rut because ruts give security, even if they fall very short of spice. Likewise, if we have a sense of needing to fill blank calendar dates with “meaningful” events because we need to feel busy, important or wanted, we run the same danger. Christian spirituality must leave room, not for irresponsibility and laziness, but certainly for spontaneity and the creative work of the Spirit. Before putting dates and activities into boxes, we may just want to ask what God wants to see happen or if there is a new and refreshing way of approaching the common challenges of life.

“What ya doin’ that for?” should always be answered with some sense of knowing that our planned activity — even though it is the result of our decision — some fits into the building of God’s Kingdom. Decisions to do good — anything which advances the human cause — builds the Kingdom of God, but often in our busy-ness or pressure to get organized we can get in the way and cloud the real reasons for doing what we do.

This time of year especially, as our lives speed up and we look down the pike at another (yes, busy) year, we could benefit from hiring that little girl from the Cheerios commercial. Before we set things into concrete and engage in our slate of activities, it would be a refreshing challenge to our spirituality to have someone press us a bit with an honest question or two: What ya doin’ that for?

(Father Savelesky is pastor of Assumption Parish in Spokane. His book, Catholics Believe, is available from Harcourt Religion Publishers.) (Download an order form in pdf format to print)

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