A Pervasive Form of Contemporary Violence

There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence . . . [and that is] activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence.

To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence.

The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work. Because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.

— Thomas Merton in Wayne Muller – Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives