The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Part one: The Problem
Hurry (1|2)
The Great Enemy of Spiritual Life
Pages 23-28
TOGETHER read the book and then the following scriptures slowly and attentively
as you read together INDIVIDUALLY take notes in your journal on what stands out.
James 1:19-20 (NIV) My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
Matthew 6:25-27 (NIV) ”Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
Ecclesiastes 3:11-12 (NIV) He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
GROUP DISCUSSION:
There is a huge difference between speed and hurry. God is not anti-speed. He created light and sound. He created the cheetah and designed the wings of the hummingbird. He also created space and time (as best as we humans can understand it on this side of eternity). On the other end of the spectrum, God also created the sloth, the tortoise, and the rate at which an oak grows from an acorn to a fully mature tree.
Share just one or two things that stood out to you while reading the book and/or scripture. (try to keep it brief)
TOGETHER pray for one another.
INDIVIDUALLY answer the questions in your journal - process your notes and pray.
Read (slowly and attentively) James 1:19-20 (above) and meditate on it. Now read the quote from Kosuke Koyama: God walks slowly “slowly” because he is love. If he is not love he would have gone much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from technological speed to which we are accustomed. It is “slow” yet it is lord over all other speeds since it is the speed of love.
Why is a slow pace so frustrating?
Why does it cause anger?
Why do we hate traffic lights, slow internet speeds, waiting more than 2 minutes for a microwave to heat our food, or the momentary pause for an elevator door to close?
When do you think instant gratification became the expectancy and patiently waiting became unacceptable?
What are examples in your life that force you to slow down or wait?
Rolheiser said: “We are more busy than bad, more distracted than nonspiritual, and more interested in the movie theater, the sports stadium, and the shopping mall and the fantasy life they produce in us than we are in church. Pathological business, distraction, and restlessness are major blocks today within our spiritual lives.”
Ortberg said: “ For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them.”
What is your reaction to those two quotes?
Read Luke 10:38-42 (NIV) and focus on Martha’s perspective: As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.”
Comer says: Love, joy, and peace are at the heart of all Jesus is trying to grow in the soil of your life. And all three are incompatible with hurry.
Pause and pray - invite the Holy Spirit to show you areas in your life that you are needlessly hurrying and the areas in your life that would be okay to leave out and journal about it.
EXTRA READING:
“The delights of this world and all its kingdoms will not profit me. I would prefer to die in Jesus Christ than to rule over all the earth. I seek Him who died for us; I desire Him who rose for us. I am in the throes of being born again. Bear with me, my brothers and sisters. Let me see the pure light; when I am there, I shall be truly a human being at last. Let me imitate the sufferings of my God.”
- Ignatius of Antioch
Ignatius, whose surname was Theophorus (“God Bearer”), is believed to have been a disciple of John. He took charge of the church at Antioch around the year 69 and was condemned to death during the time of Trajan’s persecution. While in transit to Rome, the boat carrying him to his death made stops along the shores of Asia Minor, and he was able to preach in the churches along the way. Faithful Christians met Ignatius upon his arrival in Rome, both to celebrate his presence and to mourn his impending death. Praying with believers, he asked for an end to persecution, blessings on the church, and charity for the faithful. He was taken to the amphitheater in Rome, where it is reported two lions were set upon him. He never stopped proclaing the Kingdom of God and preaching the gospel until his moment of death.