Many of us are constantly inundated with busyness. Email inboxes demand our attention. Our calendars are full with appointments. Our sabbath days often become full of chores—the exact opposite of the point! We find it hard to rest, and even when we do, we are plagued with the sense of “I should be doing something right now. What am I forgetting?”

Recently, I was sitting in a seminary class next to an open window. While my mind was racing with papers I had to write, sermons I needed to prepare for church, and the endless stream of projects waiting for me after class was over, I noticed a spider spinning a web on a bush covered in dew. While I am not a fan of eight-legged creatures, I was in awe of how this spider seemed to tell me that her agenda for the day consisted of finding food and making this web. This web, while small, was mighty and beautiful.

Later that week, I decided to walk to a local coffee shop to do some sermon writing. Even though it is only two blocks away, I often drive to this coffee shop because I am impatient and feel rushed to complete my tasks. As I walked through my neighborhood, I noticed the changing of the leaves, the slight crispness of the air, and my neighbor’s garden. I heard laughter from the local playground and the whispering and chirps of birds and squirrels. How might our sense of busyness change if we slowed down enough to notice and take stock of the beauty around us?