Nov
03
2009
Why Are We So Busy?
Pascal, to my mind, has written the most profound reflections on God, man, and “diversion.” I’d recommend getting Peter Kreeft’s edition, Christianity for Modern Pagans, Pascal’s Pensees Edited, Outlined, and Explained, where the relevant thoughts are all gathered in one section (pp. 167-187). Kreeft writes that when he teaches this material, his “students are always stunned and shamed to silence as Pascal shows them in these pensees their own lives in all their shallowness, cowardice and dishonesty.”
Here is one line from Pascal (from #136) that it worthy of a lot of meditation, especially in The Age of Internet:
I have often said that the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that
he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.
Kreeft’s restatements and commentary are also worth reading. For example, here is an excerpt from pp. 167-169:
We ought to have much more time, more leisure, than our ancestors did, because technology, which is the most obvious and radical difference between their lives and ours, is essentially a series of time-saving devices.
In ancient societies, if you were rich you had slaves to do the menial work so that you could be freed to enjoy your leisure time. Life was like a vacation for the rich because the poor slaves were their machines. . . .
[But] now that everyone has slave-substitutes (machines), why doesn’t everyone enjoy the leisurely, vacationy lifestyle of the ancient rich? Why have we killed time instead of saving it? . . .
We want to complexify our lives. We don’t have to, we want to. We wanted to be harried and hassled and busy. Unconsciously, we want the very things we complain about. For if we had leisure, we would look at ourselves and listen to our hearts and see the great gaping hold in our hearts and be terrified, because that hole is so big that nothing but God can fill it.
So we run around like conscientious little bugs, scared rabbits, dancing attendance on our machines, our slaves, and making them our masters. We think we want peace and silence and freedom and leisure, but deep down we know that this would be unendurable to us, like a dark and empty room without distractions where we would be forced to confront ourselves. . .
If you are typically modern, your life is like a mansion with a terrifying hole right in the middle of the living-room floor. So you paper over the hole with a very busy wallpaper pattern to distract yourself. You find a rhinoceros in the middle of your house. The rhinoceros is wretchedness and death. How in the world can you hide a rhinoceros? Easy: cover it with a million mice. Multiple diversions.
21 Comments
[...] November 2, 2009 by Dan Lowe Justin Taylor has posted some thoughts from Blaise Pascal by way of Peter Kreeft which I found rather convicting regarding why we stay so busy. These thoughts are summed up in the statement “I have often said that the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.” Interesting. You can find the post here http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2009/11/03/why-are-we-so-busy/. [...]
Justin…everyone knows that leaders in the church are normally incredibly busy people. That is one of the signs of a leader, someone who is busy. Individuals that lead other people are often unable to spend many moments throughout the day by themselves. I am certainly not diminishing the value of being silent in the presence of God. There is no doubt there is a huge value and benefit for the life of a Christian in spending time quietly with God. But the above post makes it seem that people who fill their times with “stuff” are doing so because they are afraid of God calling out their inner-sin. I don’t deny that this can be the case. But when looking at leaders, I think it is dangerous to say that business is only a reflection of sin in the heart and a desire to stay away from confronting that. Again, I agree with much of what is said. Leaders especially need to ensure that they are constantly spending time with God, listening to His guidance. So I wonder what you would suggest is a good way to balance the business in the life of a leader with the need for leisure time.
I think most of us crave busyness. One reason is that it makes us feel mored important. Another reason which this post gets at directly is that it provides a distraction from more important contemplative matters. Many leaders are actually far too busy. The problem is when leaders trade being busy for being effective. Leaders need to make it a practice of taking time to stop and reflect on their lives and ministry.
Does Pascal really write “soul cause?”
What are most people “busy” with in a society like the United States? Largely unnecessary housework and yardwork, unnecessary activities for their children, etc. Most people are so ignorant of the Bible that they can’t even name the four gospels, yet they have time for American Idol, Monday Night Football, and such. John Stossel commented:
“I talked with sociologist John Robinson of the University of Maryland, who’s been trying to measure how much time we have for several decades. Since 1965, Robinson has had people keep time diaries, so he could calculate how much free time people really have. I assumed that we’ve lost free time since 1965, but Robinson said that’s not the case. Surprisingly, since 1965 we’ve gained an hour more free time every day.”
A recent study found that the average American spends more than five hours a day watching television. I often hear people say that they returned to work after retiring, because they had too much free time on their hands. They were bored. That’s remarkable. And pathetic.
I wish pastors, parents, and others in such positions of authority and influence would make more of an effort to address issues of time management. It’s a major problem. Responsible church leaders and ministry workers who think that their schedule reflects the average American’s schedule are mistaken. The American people (and I suspect the same could be said in many other modern societies) don’t deserve more flattery about their busy schedules. They get a lot of that already from politicians who want their vote and advertisers who want their money. What they need is to be rebuked and corrected, with examples set before them as to how they ought to be living.
Wow, spot on Jason!! I completely concur. Like virtually all issues, this is a spiritual one that needs to be addressed (like you said) by our pastors.
Hi – brothers, beware the wisdom of the world clothed in false piety.
The apostle Paul’s life was anything but a quiet room, even when he was a prisoner of Rome! Nor did the glorious Lord Jesus teach the things written here – that quietude makes for happiness. Nor did His pure and sinless life reflect this.
By all means, get away and pray. And pray hard. But pray that you may come back and handle the storm as a Christian, not a quietist.
Good post and good comments to think about.
I know I surf on my Version Fios TV too much. It’s weird how i like to change the station all the time.
I remember when there were just three stations, and no remote.
have a God blessed day in all you do; work and rest.
[...] 136. rest proves intolerable because of the boredom it produces. [...]
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Thanks for the reminder. It seems to me what the author is driving at the the spiritual discipline of solitude. My mind busy all the time.
There are times my wife will say to me, “Where are you?” because even though I am physically present, I am not present. My mind is a solar system away.
I have to consciously work at keeping my mind quiet … to give it a rest.
I know others who keep their minds busy to deaden the pain in their hearts. So they plunge into all sorts of busyness and over scheduling because its to painful to be quiet.
Ironically, quiet is place where God heals, where he reveals his tender mercies, and covers people with his love. It is the place where we really get to know God on a deeper level and ultimately worship him.
I thought one did have to “stay quietly in their room” in order to cruise the internet.
I am not a Pagan, so Kreeft’s aim is off.
Besides, Kreeft should be called to the mattresses for his profound attachment to Thomas Aquinas and autonomous Reason. He is, strangely, an avowed Roman Catholic teaching at a supposedly evangelical school— with Olasky as the Dean. Oh what a strange world we live in.
I was going to read the whole post but I just don’t have time.
“[A lazy person and a busy person]…the similarity is that both refuse to be intentional. Busyness is the moral equivalent of laziness.” – Dan Allender (Leading With A Limp)
“[A lazy person and a busy person]…the similarity is that both refuse to be intentional. Busyness is the moral equivalent of laziness.” – Dan Allender (Leading With A Limp)
Ted,
“Be still, and know that I am God.” This is the point of what Pascal and Kreeft are trying to communicate to us. They’re not saying to not labor for the kingdom of God. Our problem is that most of our busyness is not of that sort; it is an attempt to fill the empty void inside of us that can only be satisfied in God alone.
Hi Jessica,
Please go back to Psalm 46:10 and look at the context.
It is God speaking to the nations, not individuals. He is not entreating them, as a father does to a son. He is commanding them, as a victorious King does to an opposing army He is about to annihilate.
And what is He commanding them? To lay down their arms, and to submit to His sovereign authority.
Why should they do this? Because He will win the battle – thus the rest of Psalm 46:10, “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
So, the Lord is not speaking to individuals to slow down in their lives, to find their quiet place, or “fill a void,” or anything else along those lines.
One does not fill a void with God. That kind of thinking needs to be repented of, Jessica. It dishonors the Sovereign, the ruler of both heaven and earth.
One comes to God on His terms, being repentant faith in the complete work of the cross. Jessica, do you know for certain you are justified, right now, before a holy God who makes war with His enemies?
“I have often said that the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.”
I was thinking about that sentence just yesterday. Thanks for mentioning it. Those who are critical need to read Kreeft’s treatment of Pascal’s essay, and, of course, Pascal’s original, to see its brilliance and relevance.
[...] of my favorite bloggers—Justin Taylor—has an excerpt from a book by one of my favorite Catholic philosophers—Peter Kreeft—on one of [...]
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