Being and Doing

I'm still unpacking my luggage--and my thoughts--from last week's session of the Academy for Spiritual Formation. For much of the week, we discussed the difficulties we experience trying to hold "being" and "doing" in some sort of symbiotic tension. Our world is full of word pictures that describe this balance.
Harmony vs. dissonance. Stillness vs. busyness. Silence vs. conversation. Introvert or extrovert. Type A or Type B. Yin and Yang. War and Peace. Mary and Martha. You get the picture.

All too often, we see these dual states as some sort of false dichotomy. Sometimes we celebrate one side of the equation and vilify its apparent opposite. As I sit with the tension, I'm reminded of the 1965 classic by the Byrds--"Turn, Turn, Turn [To Everything There Is a Season]." The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote the poignant text, but Pete Seeger set it to music and introduced it to a whole new crowd. (Does this mean that Seeger's music is inspired? Hmmm. Something to think about!)

This week I've thought alot about this delicate tension. I wrote these words as I pondered...

Stillness (with pacing)

Always thinking, “I’ve got to DO something…”
Maybe an org chart or a detailed action plan
I’ll add to my agenda.
But then I see another word—just a tiny helping verb.
Righteous fervor has its place, but just “to be” is fine, sometimes.

Let’s sit down—I want to look you in the face
and eventually give you and me some space.
I’ll hear you say, “be still, you’ll see.”

Want to argue? I’ll SAY something:
“There’s neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, nor slave nor free.”
But I still wear the labels.
You know, I’ve heard their music charmed the nation,
but when they sing those words, I change the station.
I just don’t want to hear them saying, “Let it be…”
So I’ll sit down and give you and me some space
and I’ll hear you say, “be still, you’ll see.”
Maybe I can let it be.

So I’ll sit down and look Jesus in the face.
Yeah, just give him and me some space
to hear him say, “Follow me.”