I've blogged a couple of notes from The Little Book of Contentment by Leo Babauta. In the last section of his booklet, he answered FAQs. It's clear that people's greatest fear of being "content" is that they will lose their motivation to achieve or succeed.
Aren't we driven by competition with others or by dissatisfaction with the status quo? If we're "content," why bother? Babauta lifts up two things that continue to motivate him: 1) his desire to learn, and 2) his desire to help. He has found that he is a more successful learner and helper from his base of contentment. Even when content, we still "want" to learn, to have relationships, and to help.
As Christians, we can start from a base of grace: God's forgiveness and acceptance, his unshakable claim on us. In other words, when I know that I'm okay, then I can focus on the needs of others and on creation.
And I believe our curiosity, about others, about creation, about anything, in the context of our relationship with God is a way to love, honor and worship him. He loves our curiosity. He made us like that! (Maybe because God is curious?) Babauta's second mantra is good: "We are all learning." I'd include the arts and musical expression in that exploration and curiosity.
Still, I believe in a certain amount of "discontent" in the area of God's justice and love. Jesus wasn't always "content." Scripturally, it's about making sure the widows and orphans are not neglected, that the vulnerable in our society, including the sick, outcasts, foreigners, prostitutes, etc., are cared for, that they are included and seen as a part of the whole. It's about wanting others to know that they are loved by God and by Christ's followers. It's about meeting needs, and about wanting to share his love and grace with those that don't know it, believe it, or feel it.
God's passionate discontent in us may help us to see pain, unfairness, or suffering, and to respond with our own tears and actions.
However, yes: this all stands on a firm base of contentment within myself. "I" am okay. "I" can decrease, so that "he" might increase. I and my needs, fears, wants, etc. can decrease, so that God and the needs of others, or of exploration and discovery in creation, music and art can all increase.
