Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s)
Tonight at the grocery store, our seven-year old son Ian saw a poster with a smiling youngster about his own age in full martial arts uniform, inviting him to come take lessons (for a small fee, of course). He asked if he might be able to, and my immediate reaction was, “No, Ian… we’re not going to do that.” It’s not because I have some reason to not like martial arts. Chi knows martial arts, so it can’t be that bad… right?
As I pondered my immediate, and somewhat stronger-than-I-anticipated reaction to Ian’s question, the obvious reason for my rejection of his idea was our busyness. Karate would be just one more thing. It’s obviously not a bad thing, but it’s a thing. We only have so much room for things…
But, you see… in America… we have full access to as many things as we want. We can do anything and everything. Things dominate our lives. We go from one thing to the next to the next… sometimes juggling a few things at a time. There are so many options, and we don’t want to miss any of the things.
I know. I am a super-perp of this.
We are overrun by our busyness, and end up being stretched so thin that the things we are trying to do end up being more of a drain than an enrichement to our lives. That’s not to say we can’t get good stuff from all of the good things we’re trying to do. We certainly do. But the busyness can just minimize the good we can get.
I looked it up a bit tonight, but could not find anywhere that busyness is talked about as a “sin”. I’m certainly not trying to make a list of what to do and what not to do… just want to see if it’s one of the things God warns us about. But I couldn’t find anything topically like that. Hopfeully God will lead me to some scripture that deals with this idea. I am not ready to call the compulsion to keep doing more and more stuff a sin… but perhaps in a way it’s gluttony?
We mainly think of gluttony as being with food, but perhaps it could be with our time, and our activities. We fill every moment with some activity… some busyness. Is that gluttony a “sin”… or just making the most of our time?
I am certainly making no sweeping accusations or judgments. And, perhaps my thoughts tonight are really just for me. Perhaps God wants me and my family to not be busy. But at first glance it sure does seem that our culture is overwhelmingly busy. Going from one thing to another… never time to connect with each other, and just enjoy the people and the life God has given us. Again, it could just be me, take a look around and I think you’ll notice that we live at a blinding pace… just because we can. There’s so much to do.
I have no clever ending to this story. Just processing these thoughts tonight as they enter my head. Of course, I welcome your feedback and insights on the “threat” of busyness to our culture, and to us individually. Would love to hear your thoughts, too.
Oh, man! You’ve hit a sore spot with Chi!
I hate busyness. It’s the worst at work. If one more idiot asks me, “Hey, they keeping you busy?” or something like that, I’m going to be busy shoving a monitor down their throat. Inevitably, the person asking is always some coporate automaton whose life is centered around work.
I think, heck, I know some people use busyness as a way to distract themselves from dealing with the things that are wrong in their lives. That’s unhealthy.
Sometimes, you’re cornered into being busy. Work, family, house, etc. It sucks but it’s something you have to deal with from time to time.
I’m not advocating slothfulness. Sitting around and watching TV every waking moment. But we need more time to focus on the important things and enjoy life. Cultivate your relationship with God and family. Do a hobby you enjoy. Exercise your mind and your body.
I feel that one should pick and choose certain important things– things that will inevitably take up some time and add a degree of busyness to their life. But, again, these things are important to the person.
The other stuff? Discard it if possible. If you’re at church five or six days a week, you’re just trying too hard. Cut back. If you hate your job and don’t have to work, quit. Unfortunately, most of us don’t like our jobs but still have to work.
Which brings me to another reason I hate busyness. It takes away the time I need to recover from the mindnumbing 8-5.
Just an example from life… I often regret buying a house because it has added nothing but work (and a big hole in my wallet) to my life. While people talk about how great a house is because you own something (not really true; see what happens if you don’t pay your property tax) and you can decorate (meaningless to a guy like me) or whatever reason, I think about what a pain it is to deal with the day to day maintenance of it.
For some people, it’s important to own a house. That’s fine. For me, it would be more important to not have to deal with the crap that comes with owning a house. That means renting.
Different folks, different strokes. Just gotta figure out what’s important to you and work on your stroke.
Eh. Does this even make any sense? I’m rambling. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on this topic AND I hate my house so it’s hard to stay focused.
I’m going to go now.
I agree. Sometimes I just wanna stay home!