The measure to guide us.

Lake Ontario in winter

To be or not to be quipped Shakespeare's Hamlet. Would that the quote was To be alone, or not to be alone. For that is our real dilemma. How to balance the two, the companionship we need and the space for our own personal time. Our debt to society and our obligations to ourselves. Our need for contemplation and our duty toward our sisters and brothers. When to enrich and charge our own souls, and when to reach a hand out to encourage the souls of others. There really is a fine line between the two.

Recent years has seen the push for activism. I remember when I entered the monastery years ago. An aunt and uncle sent me a card, underlining the words: When we serve others we serve God!. The message was clear. Burying myself in a monastery was selfish. Get out and do something for the world. And yet, all our rush to DO something has not much lessened the problems of the poor in society, or brought greater peace, or solved the dilemma of warring nations. There are times when a little reflection goes a lot farther than all the words and promises we make.

So how do we balance the two? That, my friend, is the rub. Balance.

No man is an island, says John Donne. Yes, our needs are complex, and in our effort to simplify, we must never forget that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (ps 139:14). We must work toward the two fields of activity and contemplation, we must find what works best for us, like a good diet. Because in the end, we cannot give to others what we do have ourselves. And to give of ourselves, we must first know ourselves.