Inspiring Ignatian Quotes #20
Hmmmmm . . . this has been speaking to me for 20 days, and I guess today is the day I finally share it.
I called my brother to wish him a Happy Birthday, and he was just getting ready to take a HOT Epsom Salts bath, he was so sore, hurt all over. We tried to laugh about it, ‘party-hearty’??? . . . but I know pretty much how he feels, when we overdo it at our age, we hurt all over! . . . often in places we didn’t know could hurt or what we did to make that odd place hurt? Such is the grace of aging! But, in fact, he was helping his son with some very difficult work.
Helping is the key word here. He is retired and yet, he sounds busier than ever. There is always someone to help, watching grandkids, working on his ranch property, helping his wife; the man is always helping someone! He helped an elderly family friend build stair rails after she had knee surgery . . . this was in a different city from where he lives, but he went there several times, to scope out the project, assemble and weld it at home, install it at her home. Just because she probably needed it. Each one of my siblings think that way . . . one of my sister-in-laws told me once: “I think I know what it might have been like to be married to Jesus.” Not always a cakewalk!
I was able to joke with him, that he would likely not be snatched up by ‘hell’s hook’, he cannot stand to be idle at all! None of us can. Our generation has, for the most part, a very driven work ethic. The harder you work the better. But is it really? Striking a balance between work/good work and rest is much different than allowing oneself to become idle.
As I ponder this quote, I think the power is in one’s definition of idleness and the intentionality of one’s actions or lack thereof. If I choose to sit and read a book, it may appear to someone else that I’m being lazy, or should be doing something more productive. When I’m reading to develop or enhance a program, it’s hardly idle time, but there is still that nagging voice that suggests maybe I should be doing something ‘more’. Mental work is highly underrated! And, don’t get me started on the whole Mary/Martha dynamic I struggle with! That’s an entire post/day retreat of it’s own.
My father can sit in his easy chair for hours at a time, with no tv on, no radio, no conversation, just sitting in silence. I would never consider him idle, I see him as resting up for the next thing he needs to do. At 90, he still insists on making his own meals, doing his own laundry, never mind making homemade bread every couple weeks and brewing his own beer as necessary. I’d need to rest up, too!
It is the judging, whether by ourselves or others, that assigns whether our idleness is ok . . . or an invitation for temptation or evil to seep into our thoughts. Another version of this from childhood comes to mind: ‘Idle hands are the devil’s tools (or workshop)’. This is supposedly based on Proverbs 16:27-29, but it takes a lot of finagling of my translation to come up with that. I, do, however, see the wisdom Ignatius is trying to convey. There is always an opportunity to grow closer to God, through study or through good works, through caring for ourselves or others, for serving those in need. Let us not give evil the chance to sneak into our lives, for it is very clever indeed! St. Paul recommends to the Thessalonians and to us: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing . . . (1 Thessalonians 5:16-22).