Editorial August 7, 1989 Issue

Renewing our energy

William E. Moody

The picture in the magazine advertisement shows a businessman obviously exhausted after a hard day. He's spread out in his living room, with the family dog hopelessly barking for attention at his feet. Below the picture, the ad copy suggests that for "a lot of people the energy crisis has nothing to do with oil embargoes and solar power." Instead, the ad claims, the problem is "a personal energy shortage."

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be an uncommon occurrence in modern life for people to come to the end of a day and simply feel there's not much left of them. The toll of the day's activity or anxiety would too frequently try to deplete one's natural vitality and joy. And the drain on energy seems to cut across all walks of life—construction worker, schoolteacher, homemaker, salesperson, attorney, mechanic. I'm sure you could add almost any occupation to the list.

There is, however, an answer to this energy crunch that isn't usually found in the products of commercial advertising or in other alternatives that offer temporary, material solutions. What about the possibility of prayer? Certainly many people start their day with and perhaps take a few moments to ask God's blessing just before retiring at night. But I also know people who pause throughout their day, no matter how busy, to turn quietly to God. They actually take their prayer to the tasks at hand. And maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea also to be bringing our workday to its normal conclusion with prayer.

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