Il Dolce Far Niente

Il dolce far niente.

The sweetness of doing nothing.

I'm always envious of those people who seem to enjoy doing nothing.  Not always doing nothing, but having guilt-free moments of doing nothing.  Just resting, relaxing, enjoying the company of others, or enjoying being by themselves.

 

I am not very good at doing that.

 

I am usually too busy trying to do something, trying to be busy.  Even when I am 'resting', I will be thinking about other things, or I will check my phone, or my emails or do a bit of internet shopping.

 

I am the queen of multi-tasking.

 

I struggle to separate my worth and my value from what I do.  I think that the more I do, the more valuable I will be.  The more God will approve of me.  I struggle to feel valuable or approved when I am doing nothing.

 

But I'm getting better.

 

I'm learning that I am not defined by what I do or don't do, and am allowing myself to have moments of doing nothing.  And to actually enjoy them.

 

I love this verse which talks about being in the moment and forgetting everything else, to enjoy God's presence.

 

"Now listen daughter, don't miss a word: forget your country, put your home behind you.  Be here - the King is wild for you."

 

[Psalm 45:11 MSG]

 

I love this translation.

 

Be here.  The King is wild for you.

 

God is wild for me.  When I am doing nothing.  When I am enjoying doing nothing.

 

Nothing I do changes the way He feels about me.

 

 

 

 

Verbs

To this day, I can still clearly picture and recite several irregular French verbs.  For our GCSEs, we were given a table which we had to memorise and it has remained ingrained in my mind ever since.

 

 

 Je vais

Tu vas

Il/elle va

Nous allons

Vous allez

Ils/elles vont

 

 

I have been thinking today about different verbs.  And, in particular, the difference between being and doing. 

I haven't really done much today, and that sits uncomfortably with me.  I am not very good at being and not doing. I feel guilty or lazy if I am not in action. I feel that I ought to be doing something all the time. And I think I worry about it because I still easily slip into thinking that my worth or my identity comes from what I do, not who I am.

 

 

We are human beings, but so often we identify ourselves as human doings.  We are concerned more by our actions and our roles than who we are when no one's looking and we are just still.

We fear that if we are still, we will lose sight of ourselves.

Perhaps this is why God reminded us to

“Be still, and know that I am God."

[Psalm 46:10 NIV]

My identity doesn't come from myself.  I am not defined by what I do or don't do.  I am defined by what Jesus has done and by what God says about me.  I am His child, His precious daughter [2 Corinthians 6:17].

When I am tempted to keep busy to feel better about myself, I need to stop what I am doing and remind myself of who God is and what He has done.  For that is where I find myself.

I have been listening to this song a lot lately.  It is called 'Beautiful' by MercyMe and is, as the name suggests, a beautiful song about our true identity.

The days will come when you don't have the strength

When all you hear is you're not worth anything

Wondering if you ever could be loved

And if they truly saw your heart they'd see too much
You're beautiful

You're beautiful

You are made so much more than all of this

You're beautiful

You're beautiful

You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His

You're beautiful
I'm praying that you have the heart to fight

'Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight

For all the lies you've held inside so long

They are nothing in the shadow of the cross
You're beautiful

You're beautiful

You are made so much more than all of this

You're beautiful

You're beautiful

You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His