Article August 5, 2002 Issue

Finding balance

BY MARGARET ROGERS Contributing Editor

Multi-Tasking Adults may well envy small children their ability to give total attention to a single activity without a thought that there might be something else they should be doing. A recent visit to my childhood home in California's Central Valley brought back memories of the hours I spent during long summers rescuing bugs from the backyard swimming pool. Part of the satisfaction must have been that even a pintsized knight in a flowered swimsuit could save dainty red ladybugs from distress.

As an adult, it's sometimes easier to identify with the bugs than with the knight. When I've felt as if I'm floundering in an exit-less pool of work and other demands, there's a scripture that has come to my rescue like a gentle pair of hands lifting me out of the water. It's from St. Paul's letter to the Romans: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (8:28).