Pruning Time

The other day I got the message that I'm trying to do too many things. I gave a friend a ride to Mass, and as we were getting in the car I pointed out the lettuce plants I've been trying to grow this summer. I mentioned that I'm learning that when you don't water them enough, they grow thick, tough stems -- to get water from down below, I suppose.

She commented that to grow plants you really need to tend to them daily, and that with two young children, I have enough to look after.

Then, at Mass, we had the Gospel reading of the sower and the seed and the four types of soil. The priest pointed out that one way to look at the seed sown on thorny ground was that it represents the person who simply has too much going on. The one who is so busy doing good he doesn't have time to pray.

So, twice within a half hour. The message registered.

I've been making a mental list of all the things I've done or tried to do this summer (with varying degrees of success and completion). Here's the ones I can think of now (not necessarily all attempted at the same time, but all during this summer):

Learn to sew and make underwear for my daughter
Grow Romaine lettuce from seed
Learn French
Catch up on classical literature by listening to books on tape
(In that category I finished Hound of the Baskervilles and David Copperfield, and gave up on Little Men.)
Gather quotes to get our house painted and meet with contractors
Supervise clean out of rental house, find new renters, and clean/sort/and donate huge amounts of stuff to local thrift store
Screen new rental applicants
Serve on advisory committee for local thrift store
Work on my family tree (to date it contains 31,615 names)
EC with my daughter
Orchestrate sale of organic meats to families in my area from a farmer an hour from us
Shop at the local Farmer's Market weekly
Strew interesting science materials for my son
Attend daily Mass
Cook nutritious dinners from scratch each evening
Participate in about 12 on-line discussion groups
Blog
Serve on a committee to research and create new Baptismal preparation materials for our town's parishes

Perhaps I'm missing a few things.

I think my friend is right; next year I should forego the lettuce.

I don't know... am I the only one who struggles with feeling like I don't really DO anything all day long? That there is so much more I could be doing? How do I stop the whirlygig and come to a quiet place? I remember in my Lutheran days hearing how Martin Luther said if he had an extremely busy day he knew he had to spend an extra hour (so two, not one) in prayer.

I need to re-focus on that which is most important -- the life of the soul -- and let other unnecessary things fall away, and allow the other important things to be re-vitalized for me so that my mind can be with me in whatever I do, not on the 100 tasks I haven't done yet.