The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Part one: The Problem
A Brief History of Speed (1|2)
Pages 29-36
TOGETHER read the book (END READING AT: …it’s decreasing our IQs or at least our capacity to pay attention.)
then the following scriptures slowly and attentively, meditate on the aspects of Sabbath as you read together INDIVIDUALLY take notes in your journal on what stands out.
Exodus 20:8-11 (NIV) “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
Leviticus 23:3 (NIV) There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD.
Luke 23:55-56 (NIV) The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
Isaiah 56:2 (NIV) Blessed is the one who does this - the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.
GROUP DISCUSSION:
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.
The opening to the Pixar movie Cars begins with a black screen and the voice of Owen Wilson playing the red race car Lightening McQueen gives himself a pep talk before a race:
“Okay, Here we go. Focus. Speed. I’m speed. One winner. 42 losers. I eat losers for breakfast. Breakfast? Wait, maybe I should have had breakfast? A little breakfast could feel good for me. No, no, no, stay focused. Speed! I’m faster than fast, quicker than quick! I’m lightning!”
Do you hear the franticness in these words? How easy it is to become distracted?
Can you relate to how all it takes is one word like breakfast to spin out of focus?
What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
Is it to thank God for the new day he has made or to look at the alerts and notifications waiting for you on your phone?
Before Edison the average person slept eleven hours a night.
What is your reaction to that statistic?
Sunday evolved from a day of rest and worship to a day to buy more crap we don’t need, run errands, eat out, or just get a jump-start on our work for the week ahead. Our culture never slowed down long enough to ask, What will this new pace of life do to our souls?
What is your reaction to this statement and question?
Pause and pray - ask God how it looks for you to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy - but not swing the pendulum into legalistic Pharisee territory and journal about it.
EXTRA READING:
Origen of Alexandria (185 - 253) wrote, “Once the people of God had surrounded the city of Jericho, it had to be stormed. How, then, was Jericho stormed? No sword was drawn against it, no battering ram was aimed at it, no javelins were hurled. The priests merely sounded their trumpets, and the walls of Jericho collapsed. Jericho will fall, then; this world will perish. How will the world be brought to an end, and by what means will it be destroyed? The answer of Scripture is, by the sound of trumpets. If you ask what trumpets, then let Paul reveal the secret: The trumpet will sound, and the dead who are in Christ will rise incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:52).”