Socrates: "Beware the barrenness of a busy life."

Another week of flailing and thrashing in getting my blogs sent here, there, and, to the regions beyond. I am glad you have joined today's edition here at the ole blogger ranch. This one comes to you live and in person, (or at least I was alive when I wrote it, ha!), on this day, Friday, July 17, 2026. It has been a very busy week here, how about where you are? Being busy can be a trap. There are studies out there that try to analyze the impact of busyness. There's the Principle of Busyness, The Cult of Busyness, and, The Anatomy of Busyness, and these attempt to look into how being busy doesn't always end up with effective results. Having been in the public workplace for nearly 60 years and many of those spent in supervisory positions, I can attest to how being busy often leads to more busyness instead of producing results that make a difference in the success of the project or endeavor being pursued. I remember well, working as a hired consultant, having the opportunity to do a comprehensive evaluation of a major aplication project underway in the company's information technology department. Work had been going on for years and there was much activity. Much. A lot. Some of it was frenetic and moving fast enough to be almost like a blur. Sadly, all these efforts were just that: Efforts that produced a lot of busyness but with almost zero results towards the stated target. It became my job to document what I found and report back to upper management how some 10 to 12 million dollars had been spent keeping a whole lot of folks busy but the work products produced were not able to accomplish the project goal. See what I mean? It can happen to any of us. Me. You. Anyone. We can confuse being busy with effectiveness and results. It's the bridge to nowhere syndrome, and, I kind of feel that way this week, however, I am thinking about thinking about how I might do better next week. Ha!

 

I well remember times when I knew exactly where I was going. I had the picture of it in my mind. I did not need to verify or check out the destination in any way whatsoever. I knew where I was going. I made it to where I knew where I was going. It was not the right place. I was busy. I worked hard, but, that did not get me to the right place. Okay. That actually happened. It did. It really did. More than once. I didn't say I was proud of it but it does add illustration to what I was trying to convey about busyness. By the way, this is a consideration in our spiritual life as well. For a number of years I conducted ministry effectiveness planning meetings in a variety of churches. It was very straight forward. What are we attempting to accomplish? And, how well are we doing towards that goal? You would not believe some of what happened in those sessions. You wouldn't. I never had to break up a fist fight but the atmosphere became somewhat heated at times. Why? The work and ministry of a local church is a priority for those who are members. Their efforts should be guided by truth but they should also be focused towards seeing men, women, boys, and, girls come to know Christ and then to grow into mature workers for the Lord. We were able in many instances to get past the pettiness and establish realistic and noteworthy goals in ministry activities. Okay. I am tired now from sharing all of this, but, being intentional counts and being effective in our serving of the Lord also counts. For time and eternity. And, that, my friend, is a long, long time. Amen.