From Palmetto Health Counseling
By Debra Jones Moore, EdS., LPC, LMFT
“There is a right time for everything …” Ecclesiastes 3:1
Recently, I have had clients seeking couple therapy because they have lost touch with themselves or their partner. Time spent together has little quality or quantity. They have become disconnected. Children come first as well as the activities in which they are involved. Parents cross each other on the street as each one rushes to soccer or dance lessons.
What is wrong with this picture? Where is the time for self, the need for partner companionship and quiet time with God (or a higher power)? Bearing and raising children can be a daunting experience. Having a child rarely saves a marriage and is often a test on the relationship. Couple time generally takes a back seat to the needs of a helpless infant. So, where does this leave time for God? How do we seek a quiet voice in this noisy world? Have we become worldly versus Godly?
Carl Jung, a well-known psychologist, tells us that, “Hurry is not ‘of the devil,’ it is the devil.”
Americans are addicted to hurry. Other cultures allow time for rest, hence the siesta or weeks given for time off work at a spa. In our society, we react rather than respond. We react to daily distractions which occupy our thoughts, taking actions that block sitting still. “Busyness” sends us in a different direction and does not allow the seeking of God. We act “on demand.” We are a fast food society. Is our spiritual balance out of sync? Church congregations can even get too busy looking at what they are achieving rather than what God intends for them. Doing things for God may keep us from exploring whether to act versus how to act. This leads to neglect through prayer as to what God wants for us to do.
In the Disney film, The Lion King, the father, Mufasa, advises his cub something to the effect of, “run from it or learn from it.” How might we learn about stillness? Taking time to listen to our conscience might be our first step. Having patience and being quiet enough so that we might hear God’s voice. Wait and listen. Seek wisdom to seek God’s will. Question as to how we know when we are one with God.
Sharon Robinson, author of Slowing Down and Finding God in Your Busy Life, suggests the following: “Realize that less is more; make time for quiet; center ourselves in prayer; see people as they are without judgment and turn over our fear to God. May God speak wisdom in our hearts so that we will approach the confusion in our world through prayer and understanding.”
Are you listening quietly to God?
Resources:
- Robinson, Sharon. Slowing down and finding God in Your Busy Life (1992). St. Meinrad, IN: Abbey Press.
- Turrentine, Jan (Editor). Adult Bible Studies, The superiority of wisdom. (2011). Nashville, TN: Cokesbury.