A Dirty Four-Letter Word

Update: This whole post gives a great big hat tip to Nick Lee!


Oh boy are there plenty of dirty words to choose from. Pretty sure I've said them all in my day, even some that have a few more letters. But hey, if you grabbed a hot pan from the oven with your bare hand, stubbed your toe, or own an annoying alarm clock, you might too. But of all those terrible words we gasp at, I propose one more be added to the list:

Busy.

That's right. Busy.

Before you go and get your undies in a bunch because you think I have no idea what busy actually means, consider that you are probably right, and just keep reading.

Have you ever had something fantastic happen to you, and you just can't enjoy it because of stress?

I had something lovely happen to me the other day. Someone asked me for advice. What a blessing! The fact that I can appear to anyone as having any ability to give good advice means there is really no choice but to believe that God is real and His Holy Spirit can work miracles. Move aside Thomas Aquinas, my goofy awkward, oven mitt-less pan grabbing, toe stubbing witness alone is proof enough.

But in the middle of listening to someone speaking openly an honestly about the happenings of their life, I got distracted thinking about all the things that I procrastinated that day. What a devilish little nuisance.

If we are who we are supposed to be, doing what we are supposed to be doing, (read: saints doing God's will), then we should never feel busy to the point of neglecting Jesus in disguise.

When we are busy, that is, caught up in ourselves, we can't live in the present moment, and we can't mimic Christ's love. It is my life long goal to live in the present moment. Not the hippie Eat Pray Love way (what a crappy movie), but the Mother Teresa, St. Faustina way! Get rid of the busy, bring on the holy.

Busy.

We say it all the time, maybe even in good conscience. For example, I would love to help you work in that orphanage, but I am incredibly busy feeding the homeless. Other times, it is just our generic excuse for being unable to attend events, schedule meetings, or get work done. Sometimes we might even say without a trace of charity in our voice. All those intentions aside, I am adding to my list of dirty words to poorly attempt to avoid, at least until I stub my toe.