Heart, Mind, Soul & Strength

Gospel MK 12:28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 
with all your soul, 
with all your mind, 
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding, 
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?  It's simple but not easy.  Love God and love your neighbor.  Love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and treat others as I would want to be treated.  Jesus, in his wisdom, distills the entire New Testament into two commandments.  What does it really mean for me to love God?  I was reading an article on "optimal experience" based on the "flow" research by Mihaly C. and can hold my love for God up to the light of these questions:  Am I doing what God wants me to do?  Am I paying attention to the right things?  Does my ministry have clear goals?  Do I have the feedback that I need to course-correct?  Am I acting with deep, sometimes effortless, involvement?  Do I have a sense of control over what I am doing?  And I like this one because it speaks to Jesus asking us to "deny ourselves": does my concern for self seem to disappear? And finally, do I enjoy what I'm doing so much that time doesn't matter?  I am certainly at my best when my heart, mind, soul, and strength are harnessed together to love and give glory to God.