As you got up this morning, I watched you and hoped you would talk to me even if it was just a few words, asking my opinion or thanking me for something good that happened in your life yesterday – but I noticed you were too busy to find the right outfit to put on and wear. I waited again.
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We live in a crazy-busy world. We struggle to find time to do the things that are required of us, yet alone do things that we would like to do. Sometimes, life simply gets in the way of living. We find ourselves so preoccupied with duties and tasks that we often forget to take time for personal prayer. And when we do take time for prayer, we tend to jump right in and quickly jump right out again. We never seem to actually prepare ourselves for prayer: to find the right place, the right presence, and perhaps even the right material. We may not always find the right words to say, but saying The Lord’s Prayer is always a great place to start. As Jesus said, “This is how you are to pray: Read More
A Parable on Modern Life (adapted from The Song of the Bird by Anthony de Mello S.J.)
The animals met in assembly and began to complain that humans were always taking things away from them. “They take my milk,” said the cow. “They take my eggs,” said the hen. “They take my flesh for bacon,” said the hog. “They hunt me for my oil,” said the whale. The snail was the last to speak. “I have something they would certainly take away from me if they could. Something they want more than anything else. I have time.”
You have all the time in the world if you would give it to yourself. What’s stopping you? What obstacles are preventing you from living in the present? What activities are taking up your time? Are these activities truly necessary? Are these activities life-giving or life-taking?
We constantly find ourselves searching to find more time to do the things that we think we should be doing. Perhaps we need to start thinking about how we can better spend our time doing the things that God wants us to do. Spend some time today in prayer and ask God to enlighten your mind in order to make better use of your time and to discover those things that are truly important in life. You’ll be amazed of how this changes your perspective of modern life.
“If you want to have the time of your life, change how you use the time in your life.” ~ Tim Fargo
This week, my wife Stephanie and I advanced one step closer to having an empty house. Some may say that this was a traumatic week for us. With one son already away at college, we took another son and moved him into college mid week. We take the remaining son to college this weekend. It’s hard to believe that our boys are off to college when it wasn’t that long ago that we were there ourselves.
© 2024 Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker. All rights reserved.
