Wanting “the Best”

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Rachel Connolly recently wrote a column in the New York Times called “The Tyranny of the Best.”

“There is a kind of person who finds the idea of seeking out ‘the best’ incredibly enticing,” she writes, “on an almost spiritual level. The kind of person who genuinely enjoys perusing articles like “the nine best hair dryers of 2023,” who is overcome with clammy dread at the idea of drinking in a bar with only a four-star rating on Google, who, in order to plan a weekend getaway, requires a prolonged and extensive operation that involves several spreadsheets.”

Connolly writes about a friend she says is known for “his fastidiously curated lists of restaurants, bars and even specific menu items; his near refusal to venture into establishments that are anything less than excellent; and his hours spent trawling reviews for everything from mini fridges to trail shoes.”

A Matter of Life and Death

You may know a person like this. I have family members who, though they don’t go to the extremes of Connolly’s friend, act like choosing the right item on a restaurant menu is a matter of life and death, that if they fail to choose the perfect item, they will regret it for the rest of their lives.

I’m a scotch-whiskey drinker, partaking of the wonderful spirit in moderation two to three times a week. And I recall a friend of our family, many years ago, telling me that if I’m going to drink scotch, I should drink only the best, meaning the more expensive brands. I told him that except for price, I couldn’t tell the difference between “good” and “bad” scotch.  

He insisted on doing a taste test, and yes, I could tell the difference, but it was very slight, so slight, I decided, it wasn’t worth the $5 to $10 difference in price per bottle.

Rachel Connelly
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It’s all subjective, you might say, and that’s true. But there’s a whole online industry that labels things whose degree of quality is obviously subjective “as “good, better, best.”

Writes Connolly: “I’d venture that not many people (possibly not any people) are able to tell the difference between the top toilet cleaner and the second best — or even the fifth or sixth. This suggests that the appeal of the best is not really about a simple difference in the quality of the product, but more about a feeling: of reassurance, maybe; of having won, having got the right thing.”

Interesting that, according to a researcher she quotes, “those who are on the higher end of the maximizing scale not only have a harder time making decisions but also are less satisfied with the decisions they do make.” And to Connelly, it seems that by insisting on having the best, people like her friend are trying to guarantee “something closer to happiness.”

My views on food changed during the time I spent as a missionary to the indigenous people of Bolivia. There I ate guinea pig and chuño, a bitter potato that shriveled to the size of a marble after several weeks freezing in an underground pit then rapidly thawing in the sun. But even when not eating with the natives, I ate simple meals prepared from ingredients found in a weekly street market.

"Good" Food

I realized that what passes as “good food” varies greatly in different cultures and that perhaps for most people around the world, food is not seen as something to be enjoyed as simply something that sustains life.

The point of all this is not that it’s wrong to enjoy good food, a good car or good scotch whiskey, but people searching for God, at least in the Christian tradition, must not be dragged into the “best” culture - a form of materialism that is antithetical to Christian values.

Problem is that we humans seem to be so enamored of stuff that it can take over our lives in varying degrees, making it harder to connect with God.

“Therefore, I tell you,” said Jesus in Luke’s gospel, “do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. …For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom and these things shall be yours as well.”