Fast from Busy

I take Lent seriously. Every year, I make earnest commitments for this season because during Lent, I live my life the way I should live it all year round. I’ve even doubled the duration of Lent by following the Exodus 90 disciplines twice (including cold showers) over the last few years.

​The most valuable ascetic disciplines to me were avoiding unnecessary smartphone use, giving up televised sports, and celebrating the Lord’s Day. Each was difficult (especially fasting from ESPN on Sundays during football season), but each was an important way for me to take custody of my time.

When the COVID pandemic began, I was out on a walk and talk with a friend who coaches his kids’ various sports teams. He leads a vibrant family, but he admitted it could be exhausting. He described the weekly meeting with his wife where they coordinated who was taking whom to what each night of the coming week. The pandemic abruptly brought that to a halt, and on our walk he declared, “I don’t ever want to be that busy again.”

I was retelling his story to my friend and fellow diaconate candidate Roy Rebustillo, who said, “You know what busy stands for? Being. Under. Satan’s. Yoke.”

“I love it!” I laughed. “I am going to steal that.” Seven years ago, I made the only New Year’s Resolution I have ever kept: I quit using the word busy to describe my life. I don’t like the way busy makes me feel, and I don’t like the busy competition we seem to be stuck in.

“How are you?”

“Busy. You?”

“Busy.” 

​Busy-ness is the badge of modern life, and we’d be ashamed if we said otherwise. For 15 years, I have taught leadership and management, and I have become increasingly skeptical of busy because studies show most of us are stuck in a pattern of active non-action, or unproductive busyness. We’re doing a lot of stuff, but a lot of that stuff might not have any value.
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In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey presents a time management matrix organized by urgency and importance. Emergencies happen, and when they do, they need our complete and immediate attention. There are also important activities that are not urgent, like setting organizational strategy or spending time with family and friends in ways that rejuvenate our soul. Covey’s matrix also includes the Quadrant of Deception – activities that are neither emergent nor important, but they feel that way (think most texts and emails). I believe we increasingly spend a lot of our lives in the quadrant of deception. 
 
Effective action requires focus and energy on purposeful activities. When we are trapped in the cycle of busy-ness, our hearts become restless, and nothing we do matters. The story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10: 38-42) might be the most important parable for us to contemplate today. Mary chooses to sit and listen to the Lord when her sister Martha, who is “burdened with much serving,” begs Jesus to reprimand Mary for laziness and come to Martha’s aid. Jesus replies, “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

Imagine Jesus was coming over to your home for dinner. You want to make it exceptional, so you clean all day and make a fancy meal. When he arrives, you are busy putting out the best plates, serving spoons, and making sure all the guests are served their favourite drink. After dinner and dessert, you take away the dishes and get the kitchen in order. Finally, you return to the table, sit down, and are about to talk to Jesus when he says, “Sorry, but I need to get going to the next town. Your guests chose the better part.”

This is a harsh metaphor for your life if you are letting your unproductive busyness prevent you from spending quality time with God. The meme “Jesus is coming, look busy!” (funny as it may be) projects an anti-Christian perspective. We are not to be busy, but seeking the things that benefit our souls, like prayer.

St. Francis de Sales wrote the foundational prayer rule: “Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.” This flies in the face of the way I live my life. Prayer is always the first thing to go. But when I am too busy to pray, I am running on the hamster wheel. When my schedule crowds out time with God, my various activities fail to have meaning. Time with Jesus sanctifies, meaning it restores all my efforts to proper functioning.

“You busy?”
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“Nope. God’s given me lots of meaningful work to do, for which I am deeply grateful.”

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Written by Jason Openo for Faithfully. Jason is a permanent diaconate candidate who attends St. Patrick's Parish with his family in Medicine Hat. ​Photo credit: Jason Openo