Recent polls reveal that fewer people are bothering with New Year’s resolutions these days. Almost all of our plans and resolutions could be done if we took the time to slow down, relax a little and “be.”
All our relationships—with God and everyone else—would improve if we just gave them more time and attention. Finally, if our goal is to be more creative, pursue a hobby, take a class or practice an art, the key ingredient is to make time for it.
Making time for God
If there is one resolution all of us can make that will radically change our lives, it’s the decision to make more time for God. In today’s busy world, with all the distractions, challenges and expectations we face each day, our daily prayer appointment with God is often the first thing we let go. Or we rush through some rote prayers on our way to our “real” lives at the office or school or home. But prayer cannot be rushed. Prayer is about relationship, and no relationship can be hurried.
Prayer requires unhurried listening. We cannot listen to God if we are doing all the talking. Prayer is a two-way conversation. Conversations take time and attentiveness. God speaks softly and quietly in the inner reaches of our hearts. We have to acquire the habit of stillness in order to hear God. If we are doing all the talking, complaining about our many obligations, chattering away about our problems, we cannot hear Jesus say, as he did to Martha, “...you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing” (Luke 10:41-42). What is that one thing? You have to take the time and be as quiet as you can to find out.
The secret to all resolutions
When I made one resolution—to meet God for prayer and silence every morning—everything else fell into place. I developed the gift of slowing down, of being more present to my life, of making better moment-by-moment decisions. I even took the time to exercise and eat right, two other resolutions that were always on my list! In other words, the resolution to be faithful to daily prayer was the key to changing my other bad habits.
Carving out time for new habits and keeping our resolutions means reordering how we do things. We need to make the time for those things that make life richer and more meaningful. It takes time and patience to change our habits. Perhaps the one thing we should work toward changing is to nurture the habit of spending quality time with God. If we do that, next year at this time, we will see real progress in our growth and spirituality.
Permission to Publish received for this article, “It’s About Time…to Make Time for God,” by Susan K. Rowland, from Rev. Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, 8-10-2010.