From our first breath we are validated by our achievements. We are known by our ability to eat and sleep. Family and friends score our worth by our actions. Sitting up, rolling over, crawling and first steps are milestones in a lifetime confirmation of our actions. From playgroup, kindergarten and through our school years, we record our achievements. From playground through to Grand Finals, we record our victories and failures. We’re known by our achievements. This is well and good. And yet there’s more to who we are than what we can do. We are always encouraged to be involved in doing. In today’s world, we’ve pursued this with a passion and increased the pace of life; busyness permeates our thoughts and lifestyle. So much so, that we feel unworthy if we’re inactive. All the more so, if our ability to do things is taken from us without our consent. We have become infatuated with the need to be doing and thus distracted from seeing beyond quantity of action. God created us to be and to do. Within our being, there is a depth of spirit that proclaims that we are more than what we do. Therefore, without a focus upon the inner space of our humanity, many of us live busy, distracted lives. Days full of actions, with little time for stillness. We justify our fascination with activity with many excuses, yet the reality remains; we are more than we achieve. Our commitment to busy lives leaves little time to develop a sense of being. It’s a mindset of action that influences our prayer time with lists of requests rather than quiet reflection. It’s a challenge for us to make space in our lives to focus upon being still and listening. Like Martha, we are often distracted by the activities of living, instead of spending time sitting still and listening. We need space, we need to stop and take a few deep breaths and listen. May you seek to stop a while, quieten your over-stimulated mind and be still. Rev Malcolm Rawlings.