the new 4-letter word

I've been thinking lately about a word I'd like to remove from my vocabulary. It all started a couple of weeks ago when I was at a lunch gathering with some other Christians, and the guy speaking started sharing about how he had realized how the new word of the decade, the word that he heard at least 50 times a day if not more, was a four-letter word that he wished he would never have to hear again--a word that so clearly represents what our culture has become, much to the detriment of our physical and spiritual and emotional health, and certainly much to the detriment of the God who created us.

The new four-letter word is "BUSY".

You hear it EVERYWHERE you go and from nearly EVERYONE you talk to in any sphere of life these days. Everyone is BUSY. I'm so sick and tired of hearing it and seeing it that I think I'm just going to start bleeping it out of my vocabulary...A typical conversation nowadays, in passing, goes something like this:

[Tom is walking down the street and bumps into John]
--"Hi, John! I haven't seen you in a while. How's it going?"
--"Hey, Tom! Well, I'm OK. Just really [beep!] these days."
[A familiar voice chimes in, it becomes apparent that Martha has stopped to greet Tom and John]
--"Hey, yall! How are you doing these days? It's been forever!"
--"Hey, Martha! Good to see you. I'm sorry I haven't returned the email you sent me a couple of months ago--I've been meaning to get back to you, but I've just been so [beep!]."
--"Oh, that's OK, Tom. Actually I'd forgotten I sent you an email. With my new promotion at work, I'm keeping very [beep!] too. What have you been up to?"
--"Well, I have been pretty involved in this new ministry that we started up at our church. We really believe it is going to make a huge difference in people's lives. But ever since we've started it, my wife and I have been super [beep!] and haven't had much time to invest in relationships or anything else."
--"Wow, Tom, that sounds so great. We'll I'd better go, the boss is waiting! And I have a really [beep!] day ahead of me! You take care, and tell Samantha hi for me! John, it was good to see you too, take care!"
[Tom and John wave goodbye as Martha rushes off down the street]
"Well, John, I hate to rush, but I need to get going too."
"OK, Tom, that's fine. I'd ask you to join me for coffee sometime this weekend, but I have a really [beep!] weekend ahead."
"Thanks, John, actually me too. We'll figure something out sometime soon. Take care and God bless!"
[Tom and John hurry off in opposite directions]

How is it that we live in a time in which we have so many inventions to save us time and energy, and yet we still find ourselves so [beep!] all the time? I just don't get it. Instead of creating more free time, more downtime for ourselves, we find ourselves being ever-more-overwhelmed by a sense of drowning in things to do, tasks to take care of, meetings to go to, phone calls to make (which have become more of an obligation than a pleasure to us, unfortunately), emails to send (which we keep putting off because it stresses us out to think of all the emails we have to send and thus the whole joy of emailing people, the former excitement of hearing that "you've got mail!" exclamation upon opening your email, has nearly disappeared altogether). We even see our relationships as a burden these days--stressing out over the idea of planning a coffee date with someone whose friendship should actually be a source of joy and refreshment to your life. What the heck is happening to us?

God didn't intend for our lives to be this way. I really believe that. His whole reason for creating us was to enjoy Him, and yet day after day we miss out on it so much and end up living stressful lives that seem to pile up on us day after day and nail us into a coffin of [beep!]ness. Even (perhaps especially) in the church, the place where believers are supposed to find encouragement and rest and renewal, [beep!]ness reigns, and we often find ourselves instead stressed, fatigued, and overspent.

What the heck HAPPENED to us? Why the stress? Why do we feel so [beep!] all the time?

I have decided to start a revolution. Or continue one that started a long time ago. Maybe it is going on in other people's hearts as well--in fact, I know it is. I'm eliminating that four-letter word from my vocabulary because I refuse to live that way. God didn't intend for my life to be that way. I know this is true. I want to live my life enjoying God, enjoying my relationship with Him and with the people He places in my life, letting go of a personal agenda or a tight schedule that makes me stress out. I refuse to live that way.

Who wants to join me?