I was thinking of a song this morning that reminded me of much of our lives. The song comes from a Christmas Musical my home church performed every year for more than a decade.
I still remember the words;
“Gotta get a gift, gotta get a good gift, gotta do my Christmas shopping!”
The song is sung quite fast to show the speed of life during Christmas. The sad fact, however, is that the speed of life does not move fast only during the Christmas season– it is all the time.
While watching a video yesterday at the World War I Museum, I saw that the video mentioned the Industrial Revolution. The video described how the introduction of trains and automobiles increased the speed of life. I thought about how fast our lives have sped up since then. With more people than ever before living in urban areas, the speed of life does not look as if it will ever slow down.
There is an increasing need for disciplined “White Space.” This is not white space that is sitting and waiting for something to fill it up—that is a black hole, where everything gets sucked in and you are busier than ever before. The need is complete white space, where the objective is to do nothing but reflect. Maybe read, maybe go fishing, or maybe to paint a picture, but the entire time is unplanned and relaxed.
For me, white space is waiting for a train to pass or hiking a mountain. Sometimes it is just sitting on the porch.
What is white space for you?
Have you visited your white space lately?
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