Friday, October 13, 2006 · no responses · comments closed

Americans are characterized by hurry, and I’m no exception. The Spirit has been bringing this to my attention off and on for years, with mixed results. My friend Marcus says that hurry is of the devil, and I believe he’s right. He will not tell his five children to hurry, though he may tell them to move quickly. It’s not our speed that’s a problem; rather, it’s the mentality that pushes it. Hurry tends to be accompanied by stress and all the negatives that follow.

I remember vividly an incident some years back when the Holy Spirit first called my attention to the hurry in my life. I had a habit of walking very quickly — I liked to think that I was being deliberate and intentional. Fact was, I was in a hurry and it showed, so I had been working to slow myself down. One afternoon, I was in a bit of a panic about something I needed for class, and I headed off to the campus bookstore. I was praying about not being in a hurry as I walked, but much to my chagrin, the cashier said, handing me my change, “You must be in a hurry.” I was a bit put out with the Spirit at that moment, and my feelings were hurt that He had called my attention to hurry in such an obvious way when I was trying to do better. Later, in telling a friend about it, I was able to laugh at the situation and myself, appreciating that yes, the Spirit has a sense of humor too.

And I have slowed down — some. But apparently not enough. I’m getting reminders about the need to avoid hurry from a number of sources. The author of an article on Webmd about the French lifestyle writes

Another thing I observed is that the French and American ways of life are very different. Eating is a leisurely experience. In the United States, we often wolf down meals in record time or eat while driving or sitting at our desks. But the French appear to have all the time in the world to sit around and dine.

I read this and realized how often I eat breakfast in the car or lunch standing up in the kitchen. And to what end? So that I can have indigestion or eat too much because I’m not really aware of what I’m eating, let alone enjoying it? One of the things that I’ve discovered since giving up sweets a year ago is that a single bite of something can satisfy if it is tasted deliberately and savored. It’s when I don’t take the time to taste and enjoy that I tend to eat too much.

A few days ago I downloaded a free utility for my Mac called AntiRSI — anti-repetitive strain injury. The sole purpose of this program is to encourage you to take short pauses — 13 seconds — every so often and then a break of several minutes about once an hour. When it’s time for a pause or break a box appears center screen and counts down the seconds. Thirteen seconds isn’t long, but it forces me to stop, look away, consider what I’m doing. I’ve found it a good time to take a sip of my coffee and actually pay attention to the taste. It is, as Martha Stewart says, a good thing.

Reading the gospels, we see that Jesus never hurried though He always acted with purpose. The first few chapters of Mark show that Jesus’ day seemed to be characterized by interruptions: people with questions and needs and demands on Jesus’ time and attention. Jesus is at times impatient with the hard heads and hearts of those He speaks to, but He is never impatient with the demand on His time. My personality tends to be pretty task-oriented, and it’s easy for me to see people as distractions and interruptions rather than opportunities for ministry or even simple enjoyment.

I’ve also discovered this week that I’m getting much less accomplished each day than I was in the month following my retreat in mid-August. I considered the possibilities: was it that I am watching TV again? Perhaps, but I don’t think so, because I’ve been pretty deliberate, choosing to watch a show because I want to rather than watching simply for the sake of watching. The big change I see is that after four weeks of using The Little Book of Hours, my prayer life changed because I had made it all the way through the book and I didn’t want to repeat the prayers for another four weeks. It’s not like I haven’t prayed in the weeks since then, but my prayer time has certainly been different.

As I’ve pondered this, I’ve concluded that using the prayer book slowed me in two ways. First, it slowed the actual time I spent praying, because I had to pay attention to what I was reading as I moved from praise to reflection to the Lord’s Prayer. There was a deliberateness, an intentionality and focus to my prayer, and I couldn’t rush. Second, and perhaps more important, I was stopping to pray morning, midday, evening, and bedtime. I use stop deliberately, because that’s what was required to use The Little Book of Hours. I pray a lot throughout the day, asking for guidance, for help, for blessing on others, or praising God for the beauty of creation. And that’s a good thing — but it’s rather like calling Teddie on my cell while I’m out and telling her I love her or that I need for her to pick up half-and-half if she happens to be at Wal-Mart. Those short conversations with Teddie are a part of our relationship, but only a part. At some point I need also to sit down and have a real conversation with her. The prayer book brought me to a stop and focused all my attention on my God and Father.

These deliberate prayer times also calmed me. I think of David’s words in Psalm 131, “I have calmed and quieted my soul.” The repetitive parts of the prayer book actually were most instrumental in this. A regular part of each prayer time is this simple repetition:

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

It’s hard to say this fast, to hurry through it. And I found that as I spoke, my breathing slowed to the rhythm of this simple prayer.

So what got me in a hurry again? It isn’t having too much to do or wasting time. My work load was actually heavier during the month after my retreat than it is now, but I’m getting less done. No, it’s a failure to slow down, stop, and rest. Thank God for this beautiful invitation from Jesus:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.