Years ago, I read a pamphlet called Tyranny of the Urgent. And for the record, I know only old people start sentences with things like “years ago.” But it was more than a few days ago.

The point of the little pamphlet was that so often we lose track of what’s important over what is most urgent. All those immediate things on that to-do list seem so very important and it feels like the world will end if all those boxes aren’t checked at the end of the day.

What gets left undone is what we never thought to put on the list in the first place. Usually, for me (and for you, I bet) is God that gets left off.

We’ve been conditioned and taught and programmed that if you’re not busy every minute of the day, you’re not living. If you don’t get everything done, you didn’t have a good or successful day.

I wonder sometimes if we really need to be that busy and do all the things we do. I heard a preacher say that the problem with Martha was that she was so distracted and stressed by all her work that she didn’t even realize that it was Jesus sitting in her living room, speaking words of life.

I think it’s okay to leave some things undone. It’s okay to slow down every once in a while and smell roses and watch children play and breathe deeply. It’s even okay every now and then to take a day off and rest and not do a bloomin’ thing.

What’s not okay is to run yourself ragged and to the point of exhaustion because you think you have to. What did Jesus say? Wasn’t it something like “Come to Me all you who are weary and overburdened (or who work yourselves to the point of exhaustion), and I will give you REST. Not a completed checklist. Not more hours in the day. Not extra arms and legs or eyes in the back of your head. REST.

I’ve heard that sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap. If that’s the case, my cat is a saint. But it’s true. Exhausted people can’t really love God and love others well.

So, take a holiday. Take a nap. Go see a movie. And most of all, let yourself off the hook about all those things left undone. All that really matters is sitting a the feet of Jesus (like Mary). That’s the most important thing. The best thing. The one thing that should always trump everything else. And it’s a good thing.