I am so busy!

One of the phrases I keep hearing from people (myself included) is:  I am so busy!

I am not sure what this actually means.  Is it that we have too much going on in our lives not life-giving?  Are there so many wonderful possibilities that it is impossible to do them all, even though we may actually try?  Is it that my responsibilities in life ask me to choose them, rather than what I would like to do for myself?  Is it that I am trying to escape some level of pain through a myriad of distractions?  Is busyness simply an illusion?

I feel certain you could come up with a dozen other possible sources of our ‘busyness’.  But no matter what the source is, many of us are feeling the pinch of life these days.

Pondering my busyness pushed me to an old book by Jean-Pierre De Caussade: Self Abandonment to Divine Providence.  His basic premise is that all of life is permeated with the presence of God.  It is such a simple belief and one which invites us to stand back and examine our lives to see if what we are so busy doing, is truly filled with God.

When I have followed this advice for myself, I have discovered there is a softer, gentler me.  I am not so rushed in getting things done and yet they still seem to get done!  I have the freedom to say to someone ‘I am sorry, but I cant be with you today” and know that they will get on remarkably without me.  I take time to go and find a gift for a friend and know that is more important to me than other things calling for my attention.

De Caussade has a truth  Truly the universe and my life within the universe is permeated with God.  I also know that I need to check my values when I discern what calls for my response in the moment.

If I can live conscious of my life in God, somehow I forget how ‘busy’ I am.  I seem to let life flow and I jump in at any point within that flow.

Summer is a time of relaxing our pace.  It is a time to connect with the meaning within life and surrender to God who is Life.  I pray this will be your experience this summer.