Friday, February 02, 2007

a bit of a challenge from Naomi

I know it's not often that you get to hear from me, and as usual it's bed time and I can't sleep due to a racing mind........so my hope is that once I unload onto the the blog, sleep will come for me!!!

So I recently had this thing on my mind about how everyone is always busy these days, and not just busy but obsessed with being busy, like it is some sort of status symol......."I am so busy that I didn't even get time to sit down for a meal this week" "What you think that's something, I am so busy I never sit down for a meal, I never even saw my husband this week" "what, you two have nothing on me, I haven't seen my family in a month, I don't ever get time to eat and I can't remember the last time I had a proper sit on the toilet"!!!!

OK.....so these three people don't really exist......but they may as well, we are all caught up in the competition and ego surrounding how busy we are. It's like if we aren't constantly doing something (even if it's really nothing, but we can present it to others as something) then we must be worthless, and we are so afraid that someone out there might actually find out the truth of it all, that we have to present ourselves as busy to keep hiding the truth.

I think (note, this is just my theory) that the reason for all of this feigned busyness, and need to fill our lives constantly is there for the sole reason that we don't want to really face what might be going on inside us...........if we are always full of stuff then we never have time to sit in Gods presence and wait , that's scary......imagine emptying your schedule and your mind for a little bit each day......and waiting on God, you might end up having to face fears that you pretend you don't have, you might have to be reminded of people you need to forgive, you might be confronted about the way you live your life and you might even find that without God at the centre of your existence you are nothing, worthless and scummy!!!!!!

My challenge is to stop saying you're busy all the time, do what you need to do and at some point in your day STOP, turn off the T.V, home and away is not that important.........put away the vacuum cleaner, put down that trashy novel (or that good novel) , get up a little earlier, spend a bit less time at the gym, actually take your lunch break at work and find somewhere quiet to spend some time in solitude............do what ever it takes to put an end to this infectious disease called busyness!!!!!!!

And just so you know, I am blogging this because it is an issue for me, of course I feel special and important when I can tell others how busy I am (we all do) so don't feel like I am pointing fingers and missing the plank in my own eye, I feel really challenged about this at the moment and want to share the challenge with others........please keep me accountable if you know me personally. And if you want to know more about where this all came from for me then read "Reaching Out" by "Henri Nouwen"

I would love to hear back, even if you hate my ideas and think I am the only person in the world who thinks this way!!!!!!!


Goodnight

Naomi

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Naomi,
I totally agree with you. As you know I am also more busy than ever before, but I do know that when I make time for HIM in my day, the centre of my life is calm, no matter how busy I am.
Your Mum-in-love

Anonymous said...

Naomi, great thoughts, I am gonna put th vacuum claner away fr good now and tell Lisa you told me to, thanks heaps!

The Dekkers said...

Hmmm I wasn't actually referring to housework, but I am thinking I like this idea.....oh, I almost never get the vacuum out, so I can't really put it away!!!!

Nice to hear from you, Peter appreciated the birthday text too.

Anonymous said...

That's an interesting one. Standing still for any length of time let's the genie out of the bottle. Because without the distractions and cloak of meaningfulness you get from being busy you'll hear 3 voices. God, your heart and the enemy.

The enemy will say things like "How can you justify standing still, you have a million things to do! You've got a career to build, a house to make, family to look after and you've only got a little bit of strength so go, go, go!!

Your heart speaks to about climbing the mountains in your life, how the sight from the top will keep you alive. And God will tell you that He made you a mountain climber and that He wants to walk with you, not just on those days that you remember He exists... Makes me wonder how long we can claim spiritual Alzheimer's.

Standing still is a haunting experience. Maybe the uneasy feeling we get is a sign to listen and not to run?

You've made me think.

The Dekkers said...

Thanks adam,

I like your insights - you've made me think too...

Naomi