Sunday, March 4, 2012

Leaving Things Undone

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials." (Lin Yutang)

It is only in recent years that I've engaged in the season of Lent, or have even really learned much about it. It has become a significant time for me each year, much more than I'd expected.

One of the Lenten traditions is to give something up for these weeks between Ash Wednesday and Easter -- sweets, coffee, soda, one meal per day, fiction books, car radio, computer games, television, movies, Facebook, or whatever.

A few years ago, I committed to what might be considered an anti-fast, in which I had an actual lunch every day, usually fixing it myself, and ate it while not working on anything else. (Yeah, this was a definite adjustment.) It didn't look like the traditional practices of Lent, but this discipline was an act of intentional slowing and reflection, a sacrifice of time -- challenging and influential in that time of my life.

Joshua Becker shaped my considerations this year in his post on The Opportunity of Lent, and especially his description of choosing "one controlling influence" to abstain from for forty days. I pondered that, recognizing truth and wisdom for me in those words.

It took a few days to reach this conclusion, but the "one controlling influence" to step back from for a time this year? My to-do list. Not the roles or responsibilities, but the list which had begun to rule my days. It was distracting during times of engagement and lurked in the corners during times of rest. Somewhere along the way, The List had ceased to be a tool and had integrated itself into my very being.

It's been a week now, and I'm still a little concerned about missing an important deadline. The world has continued to spin, though, which bodes well for the next five weeks. Perhaps the List of Important Things... wasn't.

More importantly, I have found myself free to be more fully present this past week with people I love. This is a very good thing.

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials." (Lin Yutang)

As with previous Lenten fasts, I think I've got a pretty good understanding of some of the ways I will be shaped during these six weeks. And also, as with previous Lenten fasts, I trust I'll be surprised in the process, too.

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