Is your life working?

Whether it’s working great or barely getting along, there are probably parts you need to work on. So what keeps you from working on them?

For most of us, it’s simply that we’re just too busy.

Busy is not your friend. Jesus tells us to judge a tree by its fruits. What are the fruits of “busy?” They are usually: stress, overwhelm, anxiety, fatigue, burn out, and discouragement.

We don’t want to be busy. But we still want to accomplish great things in our lives and fulfill our responsibilities. What if there was a way to do many things in a day, without feeling busy? And to do them with joy?

Saint Oswald of Worcester found that way. Every day, he had a long to-do list, but he did it all with joy. How? He slowed down and focused on one task at a time, without thinking about the next ten things he had to do.

Oswald was the Bishop of Worcester in the 960s. He accomplished so much that his superiors wanted to see what else he could do. So they made the rare decision to make him Archbishop of York in 972 while he was also Bishop of Worcester.

No doubt his to-do list was now a mile long, but Oswald countered the constant temptation to feel “busy” by prioritizing his quiet prayer life. No matter how many things he had to do, Saint Oswald of Worcester prayed every day, multiple times a day. When he returned to his tasks, this prayer time helped him to slow down and focus on one thing at a time.

In our modern world, it seems each one of us has an endless list of things to do. But that doesn’t mean we have to feel busy. We can prioritize our daily prayer time, slow down our pace of life, and focus on one thing at a time.

That is a joyful way to live.

Symbols: Washing the Feet of the Poor

Feast Day: February 29