“Avoid irrelevant things that hinder, paralyze, sap strength and determination, and weary the soul” (Inner Word).
Today’s phrase does not refer to legitimate recreation and rest, but rather to the distractions in our lives. We easily stray from what is essential and get lost in trivialities. In an age when media and cell phones dominate people’s lives excessively, we may no longer even notice the distraction. We may have become accustomed to this scattered, hectic pace of life and even feel comfortable with it.
However, our soul suffers from this dispersion because it was created for God and longs to remain close to Him. Our Father longs to unite with it. When this happens, the soul receives through God’s power the necessary grace to fulfill the task entrusted to it. The strength of the soul is renewed when it feeds on the Word of God, the holy sacraments, and the many ways it embraces God’s love.
The opposite happens when the soul gives itself over to irrelevant things. These consume its strength and leave it empty. In a sense, the soul allows itself to be embraced by these trivialities and thus loses its vigor and concentration on the Lord. It becomes spiritually fatigued because insignificant things leave it with a sense of meaninglessness.
This is why it is important to be attentive to how we spend our time outside of fulfilling our duties and to recognize how many deliberate distractions weigh down our souls. Our Father will help us get rid of them and free us from the pleasure we may find in distractions.