“The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Mark Comer – part I

I just finished reading a fascinating book entitled “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.” (I want to thank Jen for her enthusiastic recommendation.) The book was so good, I had to exert great self-control NOT to hurry through it! The author, John Mark Comer, was the pastor of a huge mega-church in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. By most metrics, he was highly successful: church size, book sales, speaking invitations, social status. But his marriage was more “duty than delight.” His kids avoided him, because they knew he was “wedded” to his job, his church. And at age 30, he was always “stressed out, on edge, and quick to snap at people.”

One day he paused long enough to ask himself these two questions: “Is this the way of Jesus?” And, “Who am I becoming?” He sought advice from wise people who were “emotionally alive and spiritually healthy” amid the “chaos of the modern world.” What was their secret, he wondered? One of the wise persons was Dallas Willard, a philosopher at the University of Southern California. When Willard was asked, “What must I do to become the person I want to be?” he replied, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

Corrie ten Boom, a holocaust survivor and Christian writer, said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. Says Comer, hurry, sin, and busyness all have the same effect–they can “cut you off from connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.” That doesn’t mean all busyness is bad. Jesus himself was busy. But the problem is when you have too much to do and “the only way to keep up the quota is to hurry.” Comer believes our constant hurriedness is “anti-Christ.” Why? Because the highest value in God’s kingdom is love. And as all parents, lovers, and friends know, “love is painfully time consuming.”

Comer sought counseling and eventually resigned as the CEO of that mega-church. He then became pastor of a single church in the inner city. That drastic change, he says, saved his marriage, helped him to establish a real relationship with his kids, and restored his energy to serve the members of his church with love, enthusiasm, and joy. The first step in eliminating the hurry in our lives is to acknowledge that there is a problem. One chapter that helped me to see the problem more clearly was entitled “A Brief History of Speed.”

Humans did not always live at our current frenetic pace. In 200 B.C. the sundial was invented. People complained about this “new technology.” (People tend to complain about any new technology.) They said the sundial cut the day “wretchedly into small portions” (later called hours.) Then, in the sixth Century, St. Benedict organized the monastery around seven times of prayer each day. By the 12th Century, the monks invented a mechanical clock to call the monastery to prayer at specific times. The year 1370 ushered in the first public clock tower in Cologne, Germany. Before that, time was more natural. When the sun came up, you got out of bed. When the sun went down, you went to bed. Now the tower clock bonged every hour of the day. Then in 1879 Thomas Edison invented the light bulb which made it possible to stay up past sunset–and to get up long before dawn. Here’s a shocking fact: Before the light bulb, the average person slept eleven hours a night!

Then came all our “labor saving devices” such as toasters, washing machines, microwaves, and fast food that were supposed to save us time. So what did we do with all that time we saved? Says Comer: “we spent it on other things.” But the epitome of labor saving devices came into being in 2007, the year Steven Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world. The iPhone put the internet into our pockets! Recent studies show that the average smartphone user touches his or her phone 2,617 times a day and is on that phone 2 1/2 hours over 66 sessions a day. Another study showed that younger users are on their phones twice that amount. Other studies have revealed these alarming trends. In 2000 our human attention span was 12 seconds. Now it’s dropped to nine. Adult humans, however, are still capable of “sustained focus” for about 60 minutes in certain contexts. Another alarming trend: Psychologists tell us that the vast majority of Americans’ relationship to their phones falls under the categories of “compulsion” or “full-addiction.”

So, how do you know if you have the so-called “hurry sickness,” that is, a malaise identified by cardiologists in which a person feels chronically anxious, continuously rushed, and short of time. Comer gives 10 signs. Here are 5 of them: Irritability: You get annoyed, frustrated, and mad very easily. Daily things irk you. People have to tiptoe around you. You live with an ongoing low-grade anger. Restlessness: When you try to slow down and rest, you can’t relax. If you go to bed early, you toss and turn. If you watch TV, you are simultaneously checking your phone or folding the laundry. Your mind is always hyped up. Workaholism or nonstop activity: You don’t know when to stop–or worse yet, you can’t stop. You have an obsession with getting things done. By day’s end you have nothing left to give your loved ones. Emotional numbness. You don’t have the capacity to feel another’s pain. Or even your own pain. Empathy is a rare feeling for you. When you’re too exhausted to do what’s really life-giving for you, you turn to “distractions of choice”: overeating, overdrinking, binge-watching, gambling, surfing the net, browsing social media.” Isolation: You feel disconected from everyone; yourself, others, God. Even if you try to sit with God or to be with friends, you’re also on your phone or a million miles away in your mind.

So what is the solution to the problem of trying to live our lives at such a frenetic pace? Does our Christian faith offer us any help? The answers to those two questions will be explored in next week’s blog. Until then, have an unhurried week!

For reflection:

Do you ever feel you are being asked to do more and more things with less time?

Do you have a smartphone? How would you describe your relationship with your phone: compulsive, an addiction, other? How often do you touch your phone on a given day? Why not keep track for a day? Have you ever “fasted” from your phone for a period of time? Explain the circumstances. How did it make you feel?

Do you drive the speed limit? Why or why not?

Any thoughts on the last picture above?

P.S. A good friend of mine, Sue, took this photo of a pileated woodpecker at her birdfeeder on her backyard deck. He and his mate take turns at the feeder. They fly in from across the road, so Sue suspects that’s where their nest is. If all goes well, they’ll raise their young (from egg to independence) in 4 months… Life goes on as usual for our feathered friends… They are an example of resilience, courage, and dedicated care for the next generation… There are no headlines calling our attention to them… Maybe there should be… Some facts: these birds are BIG: 19 inches long; wing-span of nearly 3 feet. They mate for life. They “drum” their beaks 20 times per second. Their built in “brain cushioning” prevents concussions. They carve a new nest in dead trees, allowing other animals (owls, squirrels, bats, other birds) to use their previous holes… I hope you can pause and enjoy “Woody’s” beauty! Thanks, Sue, for sharing this lovely picture with us!

Our song today is appropriately called “Slow Me Down” by Grapevine Church. It is a beautiful prayer addressed to our Good Shepherd, our Good Friend.

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