Be Still and Know

So much going on these days.
It seems that I load my plate over the course of months, yet must eat it all in a few weeks.
Why is that, exactly? Perhaps better planning or forethought on my part would ameliorate it, but perhaps it's just how life is.

And as Murphy's Law would have it, those busiest times are the times when unavoidable incidents pop up that require fast-fading time to resolve.

A large part of one's success in the world, especially our harried, modern world, can be directly attributed to how one handles stress. In fact stress is one of the worst parasites in our world, more specifically that portion of the world which values time more highly than anything else, yet often uses it so inefficiently.

We have become slaves to time, and even innocent inquiries into one's schedule are met with defensive protests of how busy we are. Yet sometimes these inquiries are not innocent.
How many times have you managed to find a breathing spell, take a vacation, or maybe even just endured a more or less normal week, only to be confronted with a knowing look.
"Oh, that sounds nice. I wish I had time for that sort of thing. But I've been so buried lately. You know how it is."
The condemnation is implied, barely veiled. Sometimes open.
"I am busier than you" has somehow become equivalent to "I am better than you".

Yet even within the context of a highly time-conscious culture, mere busyness should never have been allowed to take precedent. Productivity is by far more important; if one can accomplish a week's work in a day, how much better is that than frantically rushing about to accomplish three day's work in one whole week? But this is not the case now.
To cite personal experience, in none of my times of employment has productivity been actually valued above busyness. The point is always to spend your workday doing -something-, even accomplishing nothing of value is acceptable as long as you appear to be engaged in activity the whole time. Play solitaire for three hours every day if you must, but always be at your desk doing something. Move piles of dirt back and forth to no purpose, but for goodness' sake don't finish a major task then be seen sitting down.

Of course, some careers demand slightly more. You may be called upon to occasionally defend your value. But how far up the chain must one go before one really is judged by performance?
Quite high, and even then busyness can be used an a substitute for profitability in many situations.

Our culture's decline in vigor and profitability can be attributed to many things; surely one of them must be that we no longer focus on results, but on endless activity. Somewhere, we forgot that results are not implied by activity, there is an art and a discipline to making 'work' productive. So we rush, and hurry, and honk impatiently at slower drivers, and make frantic glances to see whether we might secure some nearer place in line. We take billions of dollars of subscription medications, to cure our stress-related illnesses, but any suggestion that we slow down and achieve meaningful lives amid the chaos is treated with contempt. What would other people think?

Contrast this to the attitude of Jesus. He "withdrew to a solitary place" to spend time with His Father. He did not turn away the 'distraction' of the children, but commanded the disciples to bring them before Him. He had time for every person who needed Him, yet somehow, He lived an earthly life more meaningful than any other person could hope for, and accomplished the full purpose of God.

As Christians, we have fallen after the world's pattern of busyness with a vengeance. We take all the world's distractions, and then try to cram church, ministry, and "God time" in amongst them.
Little wonder we find that it often falls through the cracks.

If God is God, and He Is, He must take priority. Not all of our pursuits are valueless or evil, but let them fall as they may; He must be first.

Lord, I am guilty of this sin more perhaps than any who will read this. May I make you my immovable priority in every day as I have made you in my life's plans. Amen.

-Joseph