Fretfulness… and Thoughtfulness

There is a song written around these thoughtful words: “The harvest now is over, the summer days are gone.” ¹ There are times when all of us become aware of the swift passing of the seasons, and the days and hours seem exceedingly short.

When we are so absorbed in daily details, it is sometimes difficult to keep a sense of direction. “To know where you are is a good thing,” said one observer, but “It is as important and perhaps more so, to know where you are going.” ² But this also we would add: It is also a good thing to know why.

There has to be purpose to make things meaningful. Idle and aimless motions, time-passing without purpose, give a listlessness to life. And if we had a word to suggest today it would be “thoughtfulness” _ thoughtfulness as to the point and purpose of all we do.

A sentence from Thomas Hood suggests an attitude at least occasionally becoming: “Stand shadowless,” he said, “like silence, listening to silence” ³ _ listening, thinking, away from the rush and the routine _ a little time taken for quieting the spirit, for slowing the pulse, for reflection; a little freedom from the fevered pace, a little time for appraising the purpose.

We often wonder. We often worry. We sometimes spend sleepless hours as we turn things over in our minds with fretfulness. But fretfulness is no substitute for thoughtfulness _ the thoughtfulness that quiets the spirit, that ponders, that prays, that doesn’t let itself get lost in routine, in the trivia of daily detail. Life is a search, ad the purpose should not be lost in the swiftly passing seasons.

And so we plead for slowing down the pace _ a pace too fast to absorb the meaning of the passing scenes. We would plead for prayerful pausing, for thoughtfulness, for more awareness of the ultimate aim, before the harvest is altogether over.