In Times of Plenty, Beware the Golden Calf

Dean P. Johnson | 12/19/2015

Often times we are so focused on the present moment that we can fail to see the bigger picture. I often like to step back and take a look at my spiritual journey to see not only how far I have come, but to look at how many diversions, detours, and dalliances I have taken.

I examine very closely the missteps especially to try to figure out just how I had become misdirected, and, more importantly, how I was able to get back on the right road. Most of the time, I find the reason for my divergences is the golden calf – my golden calf.

Much like the Israelites did at the foot of Sinai, when left to my own devices, I have had a tendency to build my own golden calf. There have been times in my life I have felt success, times when I have received accolades for achievements, times when I have felt that I have done a good job, times when things are going just the way I had planned them to go.

It was those times when I found I had suddenly gone it alone. It was those times when I felt empowered by my own means, my own ways, my own will that I now realize that I excluded God from my journey by relying on myself, by mindlessly not praying, by casually missing Mass.

Even though I’ve counted on God carrying the bulk of the load, even though I’ve seen evidence of God’s love and care for me, even though I’ve seen concrete answers to pray, here I was, creating my golden calf which inevitably led me down a path mired in selfishness and arrogance.

Fortunately, with each lesson I learn and with His grace and His mercy, my diversions, detours, and dalliances are getting shorter and less frequent.

More Stories By Dean P. Johnson:

Something's Fishy on Fridays During Lent

The Practice of Public Prayer Takes...Well... Practice

Unplanned Parenthood And Still Choosing Life

Brawling Brothers

You Can Get Here From There -- Part IV: Looking Up

You Can Get Here From There: Part III -- A Protestant Excursion

Final Exams? The Saints Can Be The Best Study Buddies

Remember Christmas Well

About the Author

Dean P. Johnson

Dean P. Johnson is in the Diaconate Candidacy Program for the Diocese of Camden and is a member of Mary Mother of Mercy Parish, both in New Jersey. He holds a BA in English and an MA in Writing both from Rowan University. He has had essays published in newspapers across the country including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Examiner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Houston Chronicle, Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger, Courier Post (Southern NJ), and Philadelphia Inquirer among many others. He also has had creative nonfiction, short stories and poetry appear in several literary magazines including Chronogram, Foundling Review, JMWW Journal, ArtWord Quarterly, Wolf Head Quarterly, Sylvia, Circle Magazine and The Fourth River among several others.

His first novel, MOONDREAMS, and two collections of essays, CONFESSIONS OF A FRUITCAKE CONVERT and THEY DON’T CALL IT A NUMBER TWO FOR NOTHING, are available as ebooks on Kindle. His poetry chapbook, Pyramids in Nature, is currently out of print.

Dean also has pieces in several books including The Pressures of Teaching (Kaplan), Viewpoints (Wadsworth), and Writing the Critical Essay: Smoking (Greenhaven).

Dean P. Johnson is an administrator and teacher of English at Camden Academy Charter High School in Camden, NJ and is an adjunct professor of writing at Rowan University and Camden County College. Dean lives in New Jersey with his wife of 25 years and their five children along with a Basset hound and cat all of whom provide an endless parade of writing material.