The Busyness of Life

As you may or may not have noticed, it's been a while since we've updated this blog. The intentions were there, but the time was not. In subsequent posts, I'll update you on all that has happened over the past month, but for now, we're going to have a little Chinese lesson.

This is the Chinese character for busy (忙, máng). There are two parts to this character, and they're very significant. On the left stands the radical—radical is just a fancy word that usually means "part of a character that gives meaning"— for heart (心, xīn). Opposite that is the character 亡 (wáng), which means, "to die, to lose, to be gone, or to flee."

While some people state that the right side just gives it a sound and not a definition, I think that the two parts of this character should be taken at face value. After all, isn't it true? When we are busy, our heart is gone, dead, lost.

These past couple of weeks, we have been really busy with lots of people coming to observe our classes and audit our school, along with having to prepare materials for students, such as transcripts and midterms. I noticed a few days back that my heart was not where it should be, that I wasn't living how I should. All I could think about was relaxing and letting my mind go numb so that I could forget all the stress. My heart left, fled, and here I was, living like a robot.

Ironically enough, there is another Chinese character with both the character for heart (心, xīn) and the character for death (亡, wáng): to forget, 忘, wàng. These past few weeks, I had forgotten my priorities... I had lost my heart for doing the Father's will, for showing His love. It's probably fair to say that when we're busy, we forget what is most important.

Now that I have realized my heart was numb, I know that I need to return to the giver of life, the giver of hope, and the rock that I should build my life upon. "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory, my mighty rock, my refuge is in God." (Ps. 62:5-7)