Don’t Be In Such A
Hurry….
My daughters
turned one and three in the last month. They are so beautiful. And I adore
them. They are often, in many ways, eager to grow up as quickly as they can.
Our oldest is excited for preschool and Vacation Bible School. Our youngest
daughter is trying to climb up and over everything in sight, and wants to do
everything her big sister does. These days, I try to help my oldest with
something I usually assist her with, and she insists she can do it. Maturation
is a healthy thing, but sometimes I want to say, “Hey little girls, you don’t
have to be in such a hurry to grow up!”
The truth
is, all of us hurry just a little bit too much. We are anxious to get the toys
we need, and so we spend money we don’t have to get them now. We schedule and
our families so we don’t have a spare minute, and then brag and pat ourselves
on the back about how busy we are. We get in a rush to make everyone happy and
do everything everyone wants us to, and then drain our energy and our souls in
the process. We get way too anxious about too many things. We get trapped in
what author Gordon McDonald calls “the tyranny of the urgent.”
It is
interesting to note that although Jesus was clear about what his mission was,
he was never in a hurry. He was not lazy. Neither, though, was he frantically
flitting from one thing to the next. Some time people tried to hurry him up to
get to the item on their agenda. He still went at his own pace, loving,
serving, and caring for people as the Spirit led him to. He stopped to help a
woman while he was on a way to heal a sick girl. He takes time to teach his
disciples while they are journeying to see a dying friend. Jesus rose on the
third day…not the third hour. Even in resurrection, he kept a consistent even
pace.
I think we
all need to slow down a little bit. St. Vincent de Paul says, “One who hurries
delays the things of God.” The rushed anxiety that hurry creates makes us less
effective in accomplishing the goals we want to accomplish. It also makes us
more irratible, less grateful, and more difficult to live with. We need to
remember that love is patient, and that one of the fruit of the Spirit’s work
in our life is growth in patience. God brings about good things in his good
time.
So, let us
take a minute to take a deep breath. Let us work hard. But let us take times
for rest, for preparation, for thought, and for truly savoring our lives. Let
us live with the love, joy, patience, and peace that the Scripture promises for
those who walk in the way of Jesus.
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