ONE THING NECESSARY
Almost without our knowing it, the activities of each day go about modelling our way of being. If we aren’t capable of living from within, our daily events throw us off and carry us from one side to another, without any other horizon than the concerns of each day. That’s why it’s good to listen to Jesus’ words to that very active and hard-working woman: «Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled over so many things, but just one is needed».
Upset by so many tasks and worries, we need to take time to rest now and again in order to feel our life renewed. But in addition we need to stop and encounter the needed quiet in order to remember once again «what’s important» in life.
Vacations would have a new and enriching meaning for us if we were capable of responding to two simple questions: what are the small things in life that don’t include quiet, silence, and prayer, that have unfortunately gotten out of hand till they end up killing the joy of living in me? What are the important things that I have dedicated little time to, thus impoverishing my daily life?
In silence and the peace of rest we can most easily encounter ourselves with our own truth, since we will return to see things as they are. And we can also encounter ourselves with God in order to discover in God not just the force to keep struggling, but also the ultimate source of peace.
Let’s remember the experience of «abandonment in God» preached so deeply by Maestro Eckhart and so beautifully commented upon by Dorothee Solle: «I don’t need to hang onto myself, since I’m sustained. I don’t need to carry the load, because I’m supported. I can get out of myself and give myself up».
When we are capable of encountering our rest and our inner peace in God, the vacation becomes a grace. Maybe one of the greatest graces we could receive in the midst of our so agitated and nervous life.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
