There is just so much that needs to be done. Extra demands at home and at work. More time with the family. Keeping up with your health exercise program. Planning the next holiday. Time out for friends. Involvement in our children's school activities. Completing that new management course.
In these and many other ways, the busy round of life draws us into a myriad of activities, all important, but demanding more of our time and energy. Even church activities jostle for our attention and commitment. And the more creative acts of service requiring long term support and care often demand more than we are able to give.
So we try to do more while our energies ebb away and we become like uprooted trees with our roots wildly groping for the sky. Thus we anxiously throw our arms towards heaven, praying for extra grace and special enabling,when instead we should be planted again in nourishing soil. That soil is not to do less, but to change our priorities so that we take time to be still. And our stillness find new strength and hope.
Reference: Charles Ringma's Dare To Journey with Henri Nouwen