Pope Francis, at a recent Angelus, coined one of those phrases or images that is so originally his style:

Jesus is concerned about the disciples’ tiredness. Perhaps he is aware of a danger that can also affect our lives and our apostolate — for example when the enthusiasm for carrying out the mission or work, or the roles and tasks assigned to us, make us victims of activism — and this is a bad thing: too concerned with things to do and too concerned with results. We then become distressed and lose sight of what is essential, running the risk of exhausting our energies and falling into bodily and spiritual fatigue.

This is an important warning for our life and for our society, which is often held prisoner by haste, but also for the Church and pastoral service: brothers and sisters, let us beware of the dictatorship of doing!

The dictatorship of doing inimitably described by the Holy Father is thus opposed to contemplative rest as a true value:

We tend to demean contemplative rest as something unproductive and unnecessary, but this is to do away with the very thing which is most important about work: its meaning. We are called to include in our work a dimension of receptivity and gratuity, which is quite different from mere inactivity. Rather, it is another way of working, which forms part of our very essence. It protects human action from becoming empty activism; it also prevents that unfettered greed and sense of isolation which make us seek personal gain to the detriment of all else. (Laudato Si’ 237)

To line up with a “dictatorship of doing” would be absolutely the last thing that a blog devoted to contemplation should fall victim to—all the more so when the ancillary interests of the blogger include eco-spirituality and Indigenous theology. Accordingly, I’m going to revive an annual tradition around here. I’m going to put away the keyboard.

In CitM 1.0, I always had a “Quotes Month” in July. But I’ve come to realize that there are a lot of important dates for me in July. For this CitM 2.0, I propose to move the extended period of quotes to August. From now until the start of the Season of Creation four weeks from today, I’ll forgo writing new blog posts, but you can find regular contributions in the form of quotes on Facebook, Instagram, and X-Twitter. If won’t be completely absent. But I will be a lot less active.

See you in September!