Stop the Glorification of Busy: A Reflection from Emily Rutledge

Last weekend was our Diocesan high school retreat.  A few days at Shrine Mont is always a good reminder for me that my life off the mountain runs at an unsustainable and unhealthy pace.  The standards of productiveness are different on a weekend retreat compared to my daily life.

A productive day on retreat is one spent lingering over meals, belly laughing, reading in an Adirondack chair, searching for God in moments of stillness and connection, and spending 30 minutes creating the perfect combination of duck tape and glitter on a name-tag.

We are sold a lie that busy is meaningful and busy is good.  I am the first to buy into it.  My life is covered in to-do lists and reminders and back to back meetings.  I schedule workouts and phone calls.  I mark my calendar with times for intentional prayer and plan each day by the hour.

I find myself placing my worth in being needed and productive.  I desperately want to be a person whose life is meaningful and in rare moments of rest and quiet I discover that the most meaning I find, the best me that I am, exists when I am still.


It's something Jesus knew well.  We often glance over it as we read the Gospels yet constantly Jesus is going off to be alone, to be quiet, to find peace.  Those miracles Jesus performs, the healing, the teaching, the hope... they do not come from a carefully orchestrated speaking tour or pre-planned interactions with those in need.  Jesus' ministry and life is one of presence, interruption, and self-care.

There is a element of unapproachable that occurs when we are busy.  The walls go up, the gaze becomes laser focused, and we get into go-mode.  Go-mode does not lend itself to meaningful interactions or welcomed surprises.  Go-mode leads to productivity on a task we have deemed the most important.


I am humbly aware that what I deem the most important is likely NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT.

What are we missing while we are getting so much done?

As we draw closer to holidays that make us think we must hurry and rush and accomplish I invite you in joining me in the interruptions.  I hear that's where the Holy is.