It sounds a little shocking, that becoming busy can be a symptom of being trapped by the evil one. That reminds me of my previous busy lifestyle, where if one is busy, people will accept that it is 'good'. I remember a brief opening chat with an ex-collegue.
Ex-colleague: Hi, how are you?
Me: Oh. Very busy.
Ex-colleage: Good. Very good. Busy is good.
......
Busy is good? I guess, seen from the perspective of not idling away our precious time, it is good. From the perspective of the company who hired me, a minute put into productive work means a minute well spent. In that manner, it is good. Yet there is a certain sense that being busy is not good. Below are some examples:
- So busy till one has no time to build relationships, to keep in touch with friends
- So busy that one do not bother thinking through why things has to be done that way
- So busy that one prefers to cast away creative process (which needs time), in favour of some cheaply drawn up old idea plagiarised from someone else;
- So busy that every person becomes a means to an end;
- So busy that one has no time for family and kids.
"Being Under Satan's Yoke" acronymn may sound ominously dark, but when we understand that anything can be taken as Satan's deception, our unhealthy state of busyness can be a dangerous thing. One way busyness is a problem is when it is driven by a sense of boredom. Boredom is a human problem, that sprang out in part to the restlessness character in man. Augustine is well aware of that and wrote in his classic Confessions saying that:
"Everlasting God, in whom we live and move and have our being: You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You." (Augustine I.1)
As we come to the end of another year, let us look back at the past with thanksgiving, and check our motives for our busyness and boredom. Both busyness and boredom are symptoms of a deeper human problem, our hearts are restless because they have not rested in God.
kianseng
2 comments:
Agree, agree. Last year I wrote a post on busyness quoting at length Hugh Mackay. I don’t know if the original article is still around.
Great article Geoff,
I like especially your last line which is food for thought.
"Or are we, as Ovid implies, merely trying to avoid the risks, the demands and the joys of love?"
conrade
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