When Jesus Found “Flow” (and Why That Matters)
There’s an instance in the New Testament where the mortal Jesus Christ shows signs of being in flow. Flow is an optimal mental state characterized by intense focus on an activity to the extent that basic needs become negligible. It's a blissful blurring of time, space and even sense of self.
We find the evidence in The Gospel According to John. The Lord, wearied from His travels by foot, paused at Jacob’s well while His disciples went to get food at a neighbouring city. A Samaritan woman appeared at the well, waterpot in hand. Jesus asked her to draw water for Him. They begin a conversation.
Seems like a pretty ordinary interaction, except that according to customs of the day it was practically scandalous behaviour. Jews didn't socialize with Samaritans because they were thought to be unclean and idolatrous, and men generally didn't converse with lowly, servile women.
Despite these cultural improprieties, Jesus had compassion for the Samaritan woman. Instead of small talk, He got right down to business. He told her of living water that would never fail and that would slake the thirst of her soul. He wanted this woman with a history of immorality and broken marriages to experience divine love. Then He disclosed His secret identity: He being the living water, the long-awaited Messiah.
That’s when the disciples returned from the city with food. Their arrival on the scene must have interrupted the conversation, because the Samaritan woman promptly left to tell others of her discovery.
As she hurried back to town under the blazing midday sun, I imagine Jesus watched her until she disappeared out of sight.
Then the disciples, having prepared a meal, beckoned Jesus to eat. The King James Version states “His disciples prayed Him, saying, Master, eat. (John 4:31). Evidently, the disciples are concerned. Maybe Jesus hadn’t eaten for days, yet He replied:
I have meat to eat that ye know not of. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. (John 4:34-35)
Jesus was so involved in the work of saving souls for His Father, it usurped the desire to eat. As John Gill’s Bible commentary put it: the harvest of souls he had a prospect of was as meat unto him, delightful and refreshing; and his mind and thoughts were so taken up with these things, that he had no inclination to any corporeal food.
Gill’s description is certainly characteristic of being in a flow state, albeit flow motivated by great compassion. Those of the Christian faith call this agape love or charity, the pure love of Christ. Buddhists in the Mahayana tradition use the Sanskrit word bodhicitta to describe something similar. Bodhicitta (approximate translation is “awakening mind”) is a single minded dedication to helping others find freedom from suffering.
Of course, flow can be induced by all kinds of activities, both secular and spiritual. Playing video games and musical instruments are two common pathways. Meditation is another. However there is a caveat. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who coined the term flow writes in his book Finding Flow that...
Flow is a source of psychic energy in that it focuses attention and motivates action. Like other forms of energy, it is neutral – it can be used for constructive or destructive purposes. Fire can be used to warm us up on a cold night or it can be used to burn down the house. The same is true of electricity or nuclear energy. Making energy available for human use is an important accomplishment, but learning how to use it well is at least as essential. Thus, in creating a good life it is not enough to strive for enjoyable goals, but also to choose goals that will reduce the sum total of entropy in the world.
In other words, flow can bloom into self-transcendence and increased compassion or be a regression into selfishness and social alienation. It all depends on the activity you’re intensely focusing on. When Jesus told His disciples to “lift up your eyes”, He wanted them to awaken to what is truly important.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this, consider subscribing to my newsletter.