In my own walk with God I have learnt the need for proper balance. Indeed I believe strongly that God doesn't want us rushing around like a plate spinner! When we look at the life of Jesus we see someone who said no to oppertunities to serve people in order to spend both quality and quantity time with his Heavenly Father.
I have been using the advice of Saint Benedictine to help me find balance in my own ministry and faith. This is not only through reading his advice but in joining the monks of Holy Cross monastery in Rostrevor as an extern oblate. I am part of the extended family of the monastry and the Abbot helps me through regular days of recollection. I have enjoyed the friendship and wisdom of my brothers and sincerely hope to continute to do so.
Saint Benedict encourages his monks to bring balance into their lives. Not balance between the spiritual and the secular. Rather balance through bringing God into all of your walk, and seeing how service in the kitchen and at the altar need not be a different as you would first consider. Brother Lawrence who wrote 'Practicing the Presence of God' is probably the clearest exponent of this spirituality.
I believe that this message of balance in our walk with God is an essential message of hope for the world today. It helps us to see that who we are in grace, is much more important that what we do. In fact what we do will be profoundly affected by our identity. The image above gives us a sense of what we should strive for. It is not a busy spinning and whirling from pole to pole that God desires; it is a considered placing of the stone in the right place. Waiting to allow it to settle and then blending the weights and positions so they sit together peacefully. This is something I desire for my own life. A sense of balance and stability leading to peace.
Looking at the life of Jesus in the Gospels will lead you to see how Jesus saw this sense of blalnce as essential to healthy living.
