Rest and Solitude

In Prayer Primer Thomas Dubay writes:

"Thoughtful man and women, even those reflecting a secular point of view, are well aware of the detrimental effects a continuing din has on our psyches. In his best seller, Future Shock, Alvin Toffler wrote about "the overstimulated individual. . .the bombardment of the senses. . . information overload. . . decision stress." Thomas Merton observed that "We live in a society whose whole policy is to excite every nerve of the human body and keep it at the highest pitch of artificial tension, to strain every human desire to the limit and to create as many new desires and synthetic passions as possible, in order to cater to them with the products of our factories and printing presses and movie studios and all the rest." This, he explained, is why he had chosen to "live in the woods."

Pictured above is Thomas Merton's hermitage on the property of Gethsemane Abbey.

Dubay goes on to say that "We need mental and emotional rest, rest from overstimulation, if we are to be normal and healthy."

The life of a mother is always very stimulating, joyous, and yet often loud and with limited rest. I must always guard against taking on too much and yet still be willing to work hard in the service of my Lord in the raising of my children. I find it hard to know just where is the right balance.