The Spiritual Hunger Beneath Your Busyness
The calendar is full. So why does something still feel empty? Look beneath the capable exterior and ask what our busyness keeps us from facing.
By Pastor Chris Cahill · 2 minute read · Reflection
Everything is full except the place you cannot name
The calendar is full, the messages answered, and the work done. You have cared for people who need you. Then the room grows quiet, and a longing remains that all that competence has not answered.
Do not rush to turn the longing into another assignment. Bring it before God with the day’s tiredness and gratitude. You can pay attention before deciding what it means.
Notice the need before naming the answer
Restlessness may have more than one source. We may need sleep, a different schedule, company, or practical help. We may also need to ask what we expect achievement to provide. A spiritual explanation should not make ordinary needs invisible.
The book's invitation is to make room for hunger rather than shame ourselves for having it. We can ask what is missing without declaring our whole life a failure. The question may be less dramatic than changing everything: Where am I present, and where am I merely performing competence?
Being useful is not the whole of belonging
We can become very good at being needed and very uneasy about receiving care. Service starts to feel like the rent we pay for belonging. Eventually we forget how to arrive empty-handed.
At the table, a guest may receive. Someone else can cook, listen, or carry a responsibility for a while. Accepting care does not cancel our call to serve. Our worth does not rise and fall with the number of needs we meet.
Make one unhurried space
Begin with a small space that does not have to justify itself through productivity. Share a meal without rushing to the next task. Read a short passage and remain with the question it raises. Tell a trusted person what you have been carrying underneath the competent version of yourself.
This will not make every difficulty disappear. It may make your actual life easier to recognize.
Make a little room for rest and honest prayer. Tell someone trustworthy what is beneath the capable appearance. Let yourself receive care without asking achievement to answer every longing.
From the book
Come to the Table — Chapter 1: The Ache Beneath the Smile. Adapted and expanded for this web reflection.
Faith, hope, and love in action through Christ and kindness.
