Love Slow

SLOW DOWN!! I often tell others — particularly 4-year old grandsons full of energy — to slow down, ease up, be present. I tell myself this too, although it is not often heeded. Then recently I read a piece by Eugene Peterson that caused me to certainly slow down and pause and wonder. I share it below for your contemplation …

Jesus moved slowly, not striving or rushing. He patiently waited through his adolescent and young adult years to reveal himself as the Messiah. Even then, he did not rush to be recognized. He waited patiently for his Father’s timing during his short ministry. Why is it then that we hate “slow” when God appears to delight in it? Eugene Peterson offers us at least two reasons:

• I am busy because I am vain. I want to appear important. Significant. What better way than to be busy? The incredible hours, the crowded schedule, and the heavy demands of my time are proof to myself —and to all who will notice —that I am important. If I go into a doctor’s office and find there’s no one waiting, and I see through a half-open door the doctor reading a book, I wonder if he’s any good. . . . Such experiences affect me. I live in a society in which crowded schedules and harassed conditions are evidence of importance, so I develop a crowded schedule and harassed conditions. When others notice, they acknowledge my significance, and my vanity is fed.

• I am busy because I am lazy. I indolently let others decide what I will do instead of resolutely deciding myself. It was a favorite theme of C. S. Lewis that only lazy people work hard. By lazily abdicating the essential work of deciding and directing, establishing values and setting goals, other people do it for us.

Everyone’s busy. I hear it constantly. I am busy too … or as I heard recently put, I am richly scheduled and well used. I generally move fast and often rush. And I don’t like either of the reasons given above … yet there is a grain of truth in each for me. What about you … Why are you busy? … Where can you love more slow?