All day my head is full of things
that need to get done,
Words to write and numbers to add up,
Responding to people’s questions,
Making things fit on a page,
Or, adding to a list of important things to do,
My keyboard following with obedient strokes,
More and more stuff,
Filling my day with uncensored activity,
The knowledge economy is my daily bread,
Yet I feel hungrier every day,
Consuming ever increasing mouthfuls of knowledge,
Adding another byte in the pool of information,
That daily grows in size with ever lessening
nourishment for my pangs for Eternity.
My fat mind disguising a malnourished soul.
When I really want to think
about questions that don’t fit on a page,
That can’t be answered with a few keystrokes,
I go for a walk alone,
So my questions can tumble around
and the less important items fall away,
My head empties out all the stuff,
That fills my day with information
needed for only a few moments,
Then easily discarded and forgotten,
Something comes alive in the noisy bush,
I realise creation is happening around me,
Today God is busy working out his plans,
Inviting me to join him at his table,
Here I can think about questions that dig deeper,
Beyond the small horizon of my LED screen.
When I realise that I am a small part of the answer
in a much bigger world
One that doesn’t need my contribution,
I begin to understand better why forty days
in a desert without food or water,
Is more nourishing than the accumulation
Of another pile of words that will only
Ever receive the briefest of glances.
Or, the indulgence of meaningless wandering
through the maze of vicarious relationships
with people who only care if I click on their
money making lures to waste more time,
But, when I walk alone and listen
I am joined with good patient friends,
They don’t rush me to any conclusions,
Mostly they help me find new questions,
I hear the invitation of care and its priority,
And, I walk and wait till I hear the words,
“It is well with my soul”.
