In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in 'muchness' and 'manyness,' he will rest satisfied."
This is a quote from Richard Foster that I have remembered for over thirty years. I have not lived it for much of my life - I have surrounded my self with noise, people, multitasking, and a lot of rushing around. I bought into the "cult of speed" and constant productivity.
I think of my life since I had children and was working at the church and I was literally always on the go. I had few margins in my life and went from one thing - a meeting, a funeral, a lunch, home to see kids and throw a meal together and often another meeting. There was little time to breathe - let alone anticipate or reflect. That is the life of most of us in those years - busy, busy, busy.
I also have a clear memory of being at a clergy meeting 35 years ago with our regional minister, Howard Ratcliff and one young pastor like me was complaining about how much he had to do - what with church, community, and family responsibilities. Howard very wisely said: "Who makes your schedule?" Those words also stayed with me - every time I have been in a time crunch trying to do too much at once I have heard "Who makes your schedule?"
Now that I am retired that is no longer the case. Sometimes in retirement there is too little to do and you just want to fill your time. I have learned that we do get addicted to the stress of the hurry - and we often try to replicate it in retirement. It has taken me a long time to truly get it.
Yesterday I hosted the my monthly writer's group in our home. And I had time to just enjoy one of my favorite things - preparing for a party. Cleaning, picking the dishes for the table, making brownies, and just setting things up. I put music on and took my time with everything. That hardly seems noteworthy, except I have a tendency to rush and hurry through task - literally for no good reason. I purposely had to keep telling myself to slow down and savor. Take your time.
Not a new thought- but I am still learning. And for those of you in the working world rushing around I remind you to ask yourself - "Who makes your schedule?"
Fire
What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many logs
packed in too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surely
as a pail of water would.
So building fires
requires attention
to the spaces in between,
as much as to the wood.
When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way
we have learned
to pile on the logs,
then we can come to see how
it is fuel, and absence of the fuel
together, that make fire possible
We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire
grows
simply because the space is there,
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.
Judy Brown
