Usually when we hear the word “asceticism,” we think of fasting—from food, from possessions, from noise. How often, though, do we think of it in terms of fasting from busyness?
Christine Valtners Paintner points out, “Asceticism does not ring well in modern ears . . . Yet…. There is a profound gift in the invitation to ask ourselves what the things that distract us from God are.” Busyness is certainly one of those things that distracts us from God.
Lately I’ve noticed that I’m generally in a rush to leave chapel after Sunday mass, because even on the Sabbath, I generally have a long list of things I hope to accomplish during the day. Meanwhile, as I’m rushing out the door, Sr. Janelle Maes or Sr. Susan Barber is playing a gorgeous recessional piece on the organ, most of which I miss after I walk out the door. I’ve decided engage in the discipline of slipping into a seat in the back of chapel and listening to the music until the last note. (Not all forms of discipline are great hardships!) It’s a small action but sets an intention about the way I hope to spend the day—leisurely, taking time to absorb the beautiful things offered to me by others or by nature.
Refraining from constant busyness may not entail rigorous asceticism, but it is a discipline, and it does offer us the profound gift of contemplation of the beauty of the world.
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