Thinking Anew:Few people would opt for the change in lifestyle that Carlo Carretto chose in mid-life. Born in Northern Italy in 1910, as a young man he trained as a teacher. He was, in the language of the Bible, "given to good works", and this commitment to Christian action led him to spend several years in youth work. He was constantly busy - planning, organising, talking and doing.
In his book Letters from the Desert he describes how there was never enough time to get everything done: prayer was hurried, conversations brief and life had become a burden. He decided to join a community of desert contemplatives, telling his friends that he felt God was calling him to a different way of life: "It is not your deeds I want. I want your prayer and your love."
In 1954 he withdrew to a remote oasis in the Sahara and spent 10 years there in reflection and prayer, seeking a deeper understanding of God's will for him.
While most of us do not have the opportunity, or even the inclination, to follow such a demanding course, we can identify with the stresses and dangers of the excessively busy life. Family and other relationships suffer; health and recreation are neglected. How often do we hear people say they have no time to think? It's not that our work is unimportant, but sometimes we hide behind what we do. Busyness becomes the means by which we avoid dealing with important issues in our lives. Carretto believed this was especially true in our spiritual lives.
The use of time is an issue in tomorrow's Gospel reading. Jesus is visiting the home of Mary and Martha. Martha is upset because she has "to do everything", as we might say, while her sister sits listening to Jesus. There is a hint of resentment in the exchange, perhaps even jealousy, but it is reassuring that Jesus is at ease even amid the tensions of a very ordinary and imperfect family home. He points out to Martha that she is "distracted by many things". Mary had chosen the better part, which was to focus her attention on the one who brought meaning and hope into her life.
One wonders if Jesus would ever have gone there if there was no one wanting to listen to him. Martha's activity was not without value - for, after all, she was providing hospitality; but it was a matter of priorities - having time to listen and learn, time for oneself.
Father Michel Quoist, in one of his meditations, describes people who keep deferring important things because they are too busy with other matters. He describes them passing through life "running, hurried, jostled, overburdened and frantic, and they never get there". He then reminds us of how God sees things: "You are beyond time, Lord. . .you give each one time to do what you want him to do. But we must not lose time, waste time, kill time, for time is a gift that you give us, but a perishable gift, a gift that does not keep."
We waste time dreaming of a future when we will have time to spare for those people and things that matter but are presently neglected. This is especially true of our spiritual lives. But we forget that God is always a present reality. It has been said that in the whole expanse of human history there is only one point of contact with the Lord of history and that is the present moment. It is through the door of the present moment that God enters our lives and through us enters the life of the world.
"The moment passed is no longer; the future may never be; the present is all of which man is the master." - Rousseau. GL