Working Hard for What?
No matter how busy we are and
how hard we're working, you and I do best to...
Even though, like you, I suspect there are
many lazy, idle people in the world, I can't recall having ever met a single
person who considered himself such! Every person I know will, when given the
chance, explain how busy he is and how hard he must work just to keep up with
everything. It's hardly surprising then that one of the most frequent
compliments I get about these virtual retreat reflections is that I keep them
short and sweet so even those with hectic schedules have time to read them.
So apparently, we're all busy, all working
hard - at least in our own minds! Leaving aside for a moment the issue of
whether or not we all actually are as busy as we claim to be, let's consider
just the question of: What is it that we're all busy about?
Well, the answer to that varies, of course,
according to one's life and priorities, so I can only gently encourage you to
take a few moments from your busy schedule to think about what it is that makes
up that mess of overwhelming urgencies that dictates how you spend your time. It
would be ideal to write these down on a list (and yes, I'm sure it will be a
long list!).
Now take your list and read through it to make
sure nothing has been left out. Then, put your list to the side for a moment,
and read the Sunday scriptures. The First Reading, the Psalm, the Second
Reading, and the Gospel all have crucial insights which are meant to give you
and me a new perspective about our "busy list." No matter how busy we
are and how hard we're working, you and I do best to make the time to consider
carefully and completely God's appraisal of both the busyness of our whole
business, and the whole business of our busyness!