I like your point about different audiences having different needs/weaknesses/strengths. We all need to avoid being one-dimensional disciples. I think Willard's quote is significant - ruthlessly eliminate "hurry." He did not say "activity." I tell my kids "when you rush, you make mistakes - slow down to get things done better." We so often have busyness without significance and that lack of focus and living by a worthy life priority makes us hurried - busy and over-scheduled about things that don't align with our stated values. (Ok boomer/Gen Xer, many of us older people do that too - I speak as a recovering workaholic myself.) Laziness, a couch potato lifestyle, and the over-contemplative introvert hiding from interaction are real concerns, but a rhythm of regular quiet contemplation in the life of Jesus [abruptly leaving the crowd to cross a lake or climb a mountain] fueled a prioritized life of activity center on significant purpose [His Father's will]. Lets be honest, in a church what will be better attended - a half day community service event or a half day prayer retreat? So perhaps to "eliminate hurry" is to trade the "tyranny of the urgent" for time to contemplate what [and Who] actually matters and then live a life actively living in the truth, neither "idle" nor "harried." Perhaps contemplation and service are best understood as a both/and way of living, a warp and woof rhythm; there's a time to be Mary and a time to be as busy as St. Paul. Thanks again Tyler for thought-provoking words!
Thank you Tyler for this read. I think of Paul in the New Testament. He led an active life. God allowed him to go to jail so he could slow down and write letters!
Your last paragraph was the answer to your long post :-). Like Jesus be contemplative and retreat. and like Jesus be pedal to the metal for the love of the father and the people he belonged to save. Like Jesus. Like Jesus. Like Jesus. As good apprentices, let’s be with him and then go do what he says.
Tyler, great post. I love how contrarian it is. Andy said it well in another comment: hurry is not activity. I wouldn't equate hurry to productivity or persistence or a strong work ethic. I see hurry as unnecessary busyness, as too many non-essential activities. So I wouldn't say that the book or idea would mean that college students should study less hard or not work. It all depends on priorities and what is fulfilling and essential. I do think the middle age American, especially a parent, needs to hear this message the most. Between kids' birthday parties and extracurriculars, most nights of the week are a taxi service that is soul-sucking. So while workaholism can be present, I think that is rarely the source of worry, especially if it is a meaningful part of life. I think this is true for people like Mother Teresa and Henri Nouwen, who definitely had very full lives, but I don't think of either of them as hurried in the way I am defining it. By the way, that quote from Sacred Fire is one of my favorites. I'm making a shortlist of books to reread, and that is near the top of the list.
Probably the most significant form of hurry is located in how leisure time is filled with shows or video games or social media. If there is always a "thing" to get to once we are done with our daily tasks, everything will feel hurried. I have experienced this myself with video games, even though I play much less than I used to. And I would say this aspect of hurry probably applies to Gen Z as much as it does to the older generations.
I like your point about different audiences having different needs/weaknesses/strengths. We all need to avoid being one-dimensional disciples. I think Willard's quote is significant - ruthlessly eliminate "hurry." He did not say "activity." I tell my kids "when you rush, you make mistakes - slow down to get things done better." We so often have busyness without significance and that lack of focus and living by a worthy life priority makes us hurried - busy and over-scheduled about things that don't align with our stated values. (Ok boomer/Gen Xer, many of us older people do that too - I speak as a recovering workaholic myself.) Laziness, a couch potato lifestyle, and the over-contemplative introvert hiding from interaction are real concerns, but a rhythm of regular quiet contemplation in the life of Jesus [abruptly leaving the crowd to cross a lake or climb a mountain] fueled a prioritized life of activity center on significant purpose [His Father's will]. Lets be honest, in a church what will be better attended - a half day community service event or a half day prayer retreat? So perhaps to "eliminate hurry" is to trade the "tyranny of the urgent" for time to contemplate what [and Who] actually matters and then live a life actively living in the truth, neither "idle" nor "harried." Perhaps contemplation and service are best understood as a both/and way of living, a warp and woof rhythm; there's a time to be Mary and a time to be as busy as St. Paul. Thanks again Tyler for thought-provoking words!
Well put bro! And in way fewer words than me :D
Thank you Tyler for this read. I think of Paul in the New Testament. He led an active life. God allowed him to go to jail so he could slow down and write letters!
Your last paragraph was the answer to your long post :-). Like Jesus be contemplative and retreat. and like Jesus be pedal to the metal for the love of the father and the people he belonged to save. Like Jesus. Like Jesus. Like Jesus. As good apprentices, let’s be with him and then go do what he says.
Amen and thanks for sticking through the whole thing :)
Tyler, great post. I love how contrarian it is. Andy said it well in another comment: hurry is not activity. I wouldn't equate hurry to productivity or persistence or a strong work ethic. I see hurry as unnecessary busyness, as too many non-essential activities. So I wouldn't say that the book or idea would mean that college students should study less hard or not work. It all depends on priorities and what is fulfilling and essential. I do think the middle age American, especially a parent, needs to hear this message the most. Between kids' birthday parties and extracurriculars, most nights of the week are a taxi service that is soul-sucking. So while workaholism can be present, I think that is rarely the source of worry, especially if it is a meaningful part of life. I think this is true for people like Mother Teresa and Henri Nouwen, who definitely had very full lives, but I don't think of either of them as hurried in the way I am defining it. By the way, that quote from Sacred Fire is one of my favorites. I'm making a shortlist of books to reread, and that is near the top of the list.
Probably the most significant form of hurry is located in how leisure time is filled with shows or video games or social media. If there is always a "thing" to get to once we are done with our daily tasks, everything will feel hurried. I have experienced this myself with video games, even though I play much less than I used to. And I would say this aspect of hurry probably applies to Gen Z as much as it does to the older generations.
Great points. Yeah "hurry" really is a great word to describe what we should probably all be against.