"Somewhere we read, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living… for a human.’ How are we supposed to live, to examine, to be, to become, to be fully human when we are so busy?This disease of being ‘busy’ (and let’s call it what it is, the dis-ease of being busy, when we are never at ease) is spiritually destructive to our health and wellbeing. It saps our ability to be fully present with those we love the most in our families, and keeps us from forming the kind of community that we all so desperately crave.It doesn’t have to be this way.In many Muslim cultures, when you want to ask them how they’re doing, you ask: in Arabic, ‘Kayf haal-ik?’ or, in Persian, ‘Haal-e shomaa chetoreh?’ How is your haal?What is this haal that you inquire about? It is the transient state of one’s heart. In reality, we ask, ‘How is your heart doing at this very moment, at this breath?’ When I ask, ‘How are you?’ that is really what I want to know.I am not asking how many items are on your to-do list, nor asking how many items are in your inbox. I want to know how your heart is doing, at this very moment. Tell me. Tell me your heart is joyous, tell me your heart is aching, tell me your heart is sad, tell me your heart craves a human touch. Examine your own heart, explore your soul, and then tell me something about your heart and your soul.Tell me you remember you are still a human being, not just a human doing. Tell me you’re more than just a machine, checking off items from your to-do list. Have that conversation, that glance, that touch. Be a healing conversation, one filled with grace and presence.” —Omid Safi, from “The Disease of Being Busy” (http://www.onbeing.org/blog/the-disease-of-being-busy/7023)
About Me
- Xerxes
- New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
- Admire John McPhee, Bill Bryson, David Remnick, Thomas Merton, Richard Rohr and James Martin (and most open and curious minds)
11.11.14
Being Busy
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