I must avoid feverish haste. "When a thing is pressing," said Father Surin, "what is most pressing, is not to be pressed."
I must also avoid wasting time. Because of my indecision and insufficient understanding of my duty, together with my inability to persevere, as well as my laziness and annoying habit of procrastination I can never determine upon a definite course of action. I always idle away time before beginning my task. I dream or stand gaping instead of setting to work at once.
How much time I waste! A few years ago the Renault Factories organized an Exposition of Waste, where with the aid of posters and humorous pictures, it was easy to grasp what harm the daily loss of a few minutes taken from work could bring to a business concern.
One picture represented an employee profiting by the last few minutes to roll a cigarette, another to arrange her hair and powder her nose; above was inscribed "The last five minutes that you use in getting ready before leaving work costs the company seven million francs annually."
Because I live in religion and am not receiving a salary, I am not dispensed, for that reason, from faithful service. I owe my time to my community, to my superiors, and to souls. The enterprise in which I participate is not the construction of automobiles, but something much greater. Do I always have a sufficiently professional conscience?
"It is surprising how full life is when it is freed from wasted time." (Katherine Mansfield). I will in no way underestimate the value of time. In this way I will find time for everything.
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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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