The Place of Leisure in Our Lives

In a lecture on the place of leisure in our lives, part of a series at the Cathedral parish in Seoul, a priest used the writings of Josef Pieper to present a picture of our present society as more interested in living to work than in working to live. He quotes Aristotle to show, contrary to what we probably assume, that this thinking is not new: "In search of leisure we do without leisure."

In this unleisurely search of leisure time, we tend to focus our activities on what is practical. Even in the world of ideas, what is not practical is considered not useful and therefore not important. The value of a non-doing usefulness--making a place for leisure in our lives where stress and internal busyness is put aside--is often seen as a waste of time. The lecture reminds us, however, that while we need to let work come when it comes, we need to let it go when it goes. The result will be peace and also, if in addition we trust in God, a more meaningful connection with life.

To live this life more fully, we are urged to become more present to the Divine by ridding ourselves of our ego selves, surmounting the merely human, and allowing a leisurely attitude to guide us in all areas of life. As Aristotle has said, "as long as we remain in the human, we will not possess leisure; it is when the Divine comes into the human that we can have leisure."

The priest also compares the leisure mind to attendance at a feast--a feast that is the whole of creation. When seen with the eyes of faith, the world will be seen as it was meant to be seen--with ease and peacefully, the gifts of a life lived leisurely. These same qualities are naturally present in our ordinary banquets, which scripture so often describes as one of the great pleasures of life. In an ordinary banquet, there is ease and absence of exertion, non-activity, and leaving the pursuits of our daily life. Catholics attend a banquet every time we celebrate Mass.

It is because of this liturgical banquet that we can truly enjoy our leisure time and open ourselves to the gifts of God. The Cathedral lecture was meant not to demean work but to rid ourselves of the busy mind, and to instill into our work the leisure mind that is naturally ours when we become present to the Divine in the liturgy and continue with this mindset in our daily life. Today is Easter, the biggest feast of the year. It should be a time of great joy and a preparation to live each day as a little Easter. Happy Easter. Alleluia, Alleluia.