Leaving things undone
Lin Yutang (1895-1976) was a Chinese linguist and writer who lived in China and the United States. The son of a Chinese Presbyterian pastor, Lin renounced Christianity as a young adult and became a professor of English (later in life he returned to his Christian faith). He founded Chinese magazines, edited English-language journals, contributed essays to Chinese literary magazines, wrote several books, and compiled a Chinese-English dictionary. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1940 and 1950. He also found time to invent the Ming Kwai Chinese typewriter.
Given his accomplishments, it’s easy to imagine his life being stressful and busy, racing from one important project to the next, multi-tasking to get it all done. And yet, he understood the importance of finding balance while juggling so many projects. “Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone,” he wrote in The Importance of Living. “The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.”
We don’t need to be as accomplished as Lin for our lives to feel busy and overwhelming. We can feel this way even if we don’t have a long list of tasks or projects. In the last years of her life, my mother worried about the tasks she thought she should do but no longer had the energy to accomplish. She labored to do even routine things, reluctant to allow others to help her. Like so many of us, she struggled to find balance between the essential and non-essential parts of life.
We’re moving into a time of year which adds significant tasks and commitments to our already full lives. On top of our normal responsibilities and activities at home or work or school, we add holiday season preparations that paradoxically bring us joy while also causing us additional stress. Whether to please ourselves or others, we strive to create the ideal holiday celebrations. I wonder if by trying so hard to do the right thing for others we lose the opportunity to spend meaningful time with others.
What if we decide during the upcoming Advent and Christmas seasons to practice “the noble art of leaving things undone”? What if we prioritize our list of tasks, focus on the most essential, and let go of everything else? Would we really lose anything? Might we instead gain something more important?
A favorite prayer of mine for the end of the day is the Night Prayer from A New Zealand Prayer Book. In the prayer we ask God to grant us peace at the end of the day, praying, “What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done; let it be.”
That feels like a good prayer for the weeks ahead, a mantra inviting us to be present and open to the true gifts of the season: anticipating the coming of the incarnate God who chooses to dwell with us and celebrating with the family, friends, and community who walk through this life with us.