Practicing Presence
Leslie Vernick
As Christians I'm afraid we have bought into an enormous lie. We think that busyness means that we're doing something important. Today more than ever people want to be movers and shakers and are upset with themselves if they are not productive and efficient. The more they produce, the better they feel. The danger of this lifestyle is that it never ends. We must continue to produce in order to feel good and before too long we start to feel like a hamster on a wheel and don't know how to get off without our entire empire crashing.
Even those in church have worn busyness as a badge of honor and a virtue. People often say to me, "Leslie, I don't know how you do it all." or "Wow, you must really be busy doing God's work." When I am clear minded and in tune with God, I think to myself, Don't be fooled. Chronic busyness is nothing more than a false sense of your own importance, not a mark of true spirituality.
Busyness often looks like the spiritual life but it is a poor substitute for the real thing. When you spin the blades of a fan fast enough you get the impression of something solid. It is only when you slow it down do you realize that it is not what you think. Slowing down helps us see more clearly so that we can build a more meaningful life. Slowing down helps us savor the life we have and enjoy the moments that God has given us to enjoy.
God values something far more important than productivity and that is Presence. He tells us, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:1) and "In quietness and rest is your strength" (Isaiah 30:15).
We have become so busy that we are not present to anything anymore. We are not present to ourselves, we are not present to one another and we are not present to God.
We are doing more and enjoying it less. Our frantic doing has robbed us of our being. Recent studies have shown that people are not happier living busier lives. In fact, depression, loneliness and alienation are at all time highs.
My challenge to you during this holiday season when life will automatically speed up is to intentionally slow down. Instead of doing more, do less but savor the moment. Learn to be present to yourself, to your loved ones, to the lonely and hurting, and to God.
Let me suggest a couple of ways to do this:
Refuse to hurry. Hurrying through your day indicates that you are bowing to the god of productivity; trying to get more done than may be wise. Your body feels it and others notice it too. You get impatient with a pokey driver, irritated at the long lines because they're slowing you down. Be intentional about refusing to hurry. When you do this you will create a space to enjoy more of what you are doing instead of merely doing more. You will also be available to more readily notice the lonely, the hurting, and those that may need your smile, hug, word of encouragement or tangible help.
Savor the moment you're in. So many of us are so rushed to get the next thing done that we fail to notice or enjoy the obvious. Savor a beautiful sunset, a child's giggle, or take some time to engage in a meaningful conversation with someone. Practicing presence means you will allow yourself to be fully present in the moment you're in instead of focusing on the next job or task to accomplish. As you're present, you will see, sense, taste, feel and experience things you would have missed by rushing. Each day God brings beauty into our lives. But when we're focused on doign more instead of enjoying what we do or who were with, we miss it and our lives will be impoverished because of it.
Simplify. When we have too many choices or too much to do life begins to feel overwhelming. Jesus told Martha that she was distracted with all of her busyness. Martha wasn't doing anything wrong or bad but as Richard Rohr writes so clearly, "She was not present - most likely, not present to herself, her own feelings of resentment, perhaps her own martyr complex, her need to be needed. This is the kind of goodness that does no good! If she was not present to herself, she could not truly be present to her guests in any healing way, and spiritually speaking, she could not even be present to God. Presence is presence is presence."
Jesus reminded Martha that only one things was necessary. Presence. But in order to be present we must simplify and stop doing so much.
