Spiritual Hiccups - Too Busy for God?

My wife and I decided to get away for a couple of days, a possibility that comes with no children any longer living at home.  We went to Ohio Amish country for a relaxing weekend.  We stayed in Berlin, OH, visited the many shops on its main street, and watched the Amish families in their buggies.  On a nice Fall weekend, we were hardly alone.  Traffic in Berlin was bumper to bumper.  But we were walking so it didn't much matter.

I had never been to Berlin before so I was not prepared for the contrast between Saturday and Sunday.  We left our little cottage in late morning to discover the streets of Berlin nearly deserted.  None of the shops we visited the day before were open, and there was scarcely a car to be seen.  Berlin, it seems, is closed on Sunday.  It reminded me of my native South when I was very young and Sunday was a "day of rest."

I would imagine that Berlin, OH is quite dependent on tourism dollars, and weekends would seem to be prime time for tourists.  But, perhaps because many of the shops are Amish, the only shopping going on was window shopping.

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
         from God comes my salvation.
God alone is my rock and my salvation,
         my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

I don't think I would want to be Amish, but I do wonder if we haven't become so busy and anxious as a people that we have difficulty finding any time for God.  Despite all those things Jesus says about wealth and possessions being a hindrance to relationship with God, we want more.  More things, more information, more entertainment, more and more, and we want it now. 

The Amish are an exotic novelty to us because they are so foreign, so different from us.  They have not bought into our culture's norms.  I do not necessarily agree with their reasons for this, nor do I idealize their lives.  But still, they do stand as a kind of reminder that happiness and contentment do not always require more.

I often find that when I am swamped with things that need doing in the office, when I am feeling the most stressed, those are the times when I lose touch with God.  At the very times when God's presence would seem to be most needed, I am too busy to stop.  I am too busy for silence.  I am too busy for God?

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