But perhaps the greatest danger of busyness is how it offers itself as a substitute in our lives for intimacy with others and especially with God. Intimacy is emotionally invasive; it requires knowing and being known. But the vulnerability and the selfdenial that intimacy necessitates can often feel too costly. So we substitute doing for knowing and giving for being known. “We show our love in other ways,” we reason. But intimacy has no other way. Without time, without attention, without listening, without touch, we can call it what we like, but it is not intimacy.
