Week 3 (pART 2)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As a young man, in college at Notre Dame and then graduate school at the University of Virginia, time and the fullness of days was a thing. I remember waking up early and retiring late, with a day jam-packed full: classes and studies, exercise and friends, Mass, and prayer. I do not recall measuring my time but trying to get the most out of each day. To borrow from Henry David Thoreau - as popularized by The Dead Poet’s Society - I was trying to suck the marrow from life. That meant not only enjoying the meat but striving to get the most - even the marrow - from every day and week. To do this, Thoreau goes off to live alone for two years at Walden Pond.

Over time, I learned that prayer could be “wasting time with God,” just being in his presence. I began to understand how space creates an openness to divine mysteries. (And for me, this was before cell phones and constant notifications… ah, the good ol’ days! Alas.) In one conversation with a mentor priest, we were speaking about our schedules and the community life of his order. I wondered “how they kept busy,” and he turned to me without hesitation and noted that being busy is not always a positive thing. In fact, it can mean: B.U.S.Y.: Buried Under Satan’s Yoke. I will always remember that! 

Matthew Kelly in Part Two: Human Flourishing contrasts busy with idleness, and explains how not being busy has become synonymous with being lazy (31). He confronts that fallacy and invites us to rethink our sense of purpose. A pithy quote from Cornelia ten Boom helps: “If the devil can’t make us bad, he will make us busy.” (41) How true! Our days can be full but are they full with the stuff that matters most, those big rocks, and where is the space and stillness in which we waste time with our God?

“Slowing down to the speed of joy isn’t just about removing things from our to-do lists. It’s about establishing and maintaining an internal disposition of calm joy…. The distinction between intense activity and mere busyness is this: when we are living at the speed of joy we can fully engage in demanding tasks while preserving inner calm and growing more aware of the needs of others.” (33)

One helpful way to think of what is at stake here is to recognize that we are not our labors. Our fruits, projects, and accomplishments are not where our true value is found. We are loved, cherished, beloved, independent from the great or little ways we are able to manifest our love and discipleship in the world. Not that being salt or light in the world does not matter; it does. But even there, look at what Jesus says: “You are the salt of the earth… you are the light of the world.” He does not say “go and be the salt” or “become a light in the world.” Rather, our Lord is reminding his audience of the deeper truth of being. He is calling forth and pointing to our identity. As Christians, being Christian, independent from how we might make a difference, we are light and salt. So, be light and salt. Be who you are. 

The truth could be put this way: mission must flow from identity. Or if you like, identity informs action. As younger people we tend to have a long list of goals or accomplishments. But recall also the movie, Bucket List, which popularized the notion of a “bucket list”: things we would like to do before we die, or kick the bucket. The film harnessed a certain charm by inviting all who watch to rethink their time here and reevaluate priorities in light of brevity and deeper meaning.

If you only had six months to live, what would be on your bucket list to ensure you savored the marrow of life in the deep sense?

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Joel