Sermon Hits the Mark on Several Points

At the local church that I regularly attend with my family, the pastor there gave a sermon today that resonated with me. He emphasized the need for people to stop being in such an impatient hurry throughout their day. Instead, they need to build margins within their lives in order to give themselves more time to get to where they want to go, and to do the things they want to do once they get there. He also decried the insidious multitasking that has permeated our society. And he was at least partially right when he said that trying to do more than one thing at once usually leads to all things attempted coming out substandard.

Naturally, this preacher followed the theology he subscribed to and cited Jesus as the perfect example of someone who, although clearly under a lot of time pressure to accomplish a great deal in a very short time, nevertheless calmly went about his tasks, concentrating on one at a time, while building in rest periods between activities.

Rest is important, and so is recreation. Naturally, we don't want to lose sight of our duties and goals in life, either. But better to pace oneself at things than to frantically burn oneself out under unrealistic deadlines and schedules while rushing through several activities at once.

Still, I beg to differ with the pastor's flat-out opposition to multitasking. In my opinion, being able to think on different levels about different things at the same time is actually part of our basic human nature and is necessary to effectively function as a mature adult in today's society. Naturally, some activities (like driving) demand more focused attention to the task at hand than do others (like tidying up the house). When I run, I usually listen to my MP3 player. Also, during that activity I mentally review foreign language vocabulary lists and engage in an inner dialogue about just any topic that interests me. In fact, some blog article topics of mine have come to me while running...

I suppose in the end that balance between work and rest is the main thing. And cultivating a sense of patience and perspective about what can be done in the time accorded us. Gee, that sounds an awful lot like Gandolf's advice to Frodo!