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Long Beach, CA

Re-Arranging Our Days (Unhurriedness VII)

We must “ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives.”  It’s the only way we can align with God’s desire for our lives.  Unhurriedness gives us space and margin to hear the Holy Spirit, through which we become anchored in His goodness and in our true identity.  It allows us to live for others, with time to spare for conversation and becoming fully present.  And it allows us to practice listening and responding, asking "God, what are you speaking to me?” and responding to our inner conviction and conscience.  

Unhurriedness is not just a posture of heart and mind, either. It means practical, transformative action. There are certainly things that may need to be subtracted from your daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly calendar to live into the slow life.  You cannot add in unhurriedness if you are not willing to subtract something to make space for it. These subtractions may be big or small.  If you are making 6 figures but you are working 70 or 80 hours a week and you are constantly frazzled and tired, you may need to change jobs.  (That would be a big one, yes.)  Or you may simply need to delete the Facebook app from your phone, foregoing the dopamine rushes of having 18 notifications but, in a more-than-fair tradeoff, gaining more stability of mind.

You may need to set up boundaries with when and how you engage technology or when you get up and go to bed.  In this world of ever-increasing technology, we must maintain the ability to become bored. Temporary boredom is just a sign that we are moving at a healthy pace. That we are not allowing every spare space or moment of time to be filled. I have a rule for my order of life that I do not get on my phone before 9 am (I get up at 6 or 7), and I’m not on it or any other screen after 8 pm, except for urgent calls or messages.  Start small, but start concretely with something with which you can generate a win that feeds and satisfies your soul.  You will likely find that healthy rules can generate freedom.

In addition to subtracting, you may need to add. You may need to add a day off or a half-hour of reading in the morning or a quiet walk around your neighborhood every day.  Again, be practical, be concrete, and start small, confident that any practice that helps us slow down can become a habit that leads to a grounded life, empowered by God to make love present for others. 

Jesus, Luke tells us, often withdrew to quiet, solitary places to pray.  What do we do? 

 

To read more, check out The Transformation Blog, here.