In a New York Times article I was reading today (“For Impatient Web Users, An Eye Blink is Just Too Long to Wait”, March 1, 2012), I learned from Google experts that we are a very impatient bunch when it comes to waiting on our computers. The article says that for most of us, waiting for a page to load, even if it is 400 milliseconds-- literally the blink of an eye-- it is too long. Google and other tech companies are therefore on a new quest for speed. The research shows that the average person doesn’t like to wait more than 250 milliseconds (a millisecond is a thousandth of a second) for a website to load. If it takes longer for a page to load, the reader will likely move on to another, hopefully faster, site. Speed means business and money.
Of course, I didn’t need the article to tell me that. I can see it in myself. And it is all a part of a larger habit of always being in a hurry. I am one of those who doesn’t like to wait – at a traffic light, the line at the grocery store, for a meal, for a website to load, etc. And yet I realize that I have to wait. It is part of life to wait. And slowly I have learned some very valuable lessons while waiting. That is, if I am willing to be taught. I have learned that sometimes in my rush I have failed to listen to the other person or notice their hurt; I have made mistakes because I was working too fast; my stress level goes up because I have failed to slow down; and even more enlightening is the realization that in my busyness I failed to connect with another person who had the potential to enrich my life. Even in my prayers, I sometimes find that am either too busy to pray or if I pray I rush through them. And in the process, I miss an encounter with God.
Now, I have to admit that I’m not quite as bad as I used to be in the busyness category and I attribute that to spending more time working on breaking my busyness habit and learning new ones. Henri Nouwen once wrote: “You don't think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.” Practicing the disciplines of silence and meditation are helping to create new ways of thinking about life and busyness. And that is why times like Lent are so valuable. They remind us of the importance of slowing down and trying to be present to the moment. Just when I start speeding up again, Lent (or Advent) is like a speed bump on the spiritual journey and helps me to apply the brakes and slow down again and settle into a more reasonable pace of life. Lent reminds me that the real meaning of life is not found in its speed or activism, but in its depth and that there is no way to go deep in life without spending time with God.
It is easy in our production-focused society and the constant bombardment of stimuli from ads, entertainment, other people and events to slip into the illusion that being busy is being fulfilled or meaningful or important. Perhaps one of the reasons why it is easy to be taken in by this is because of our fear of boredom. Maybe that is why we keep so busy.
For those who care about growing in their spiritual life, of getting in touch with who they really are, busyness and constant activity can spell ruin.
So, let me challenge you to slow down so that you can listen to the God who is calling you home to that place within that is at once our own heart and God’s own dwelling. We know that busyness can kill us physically by taking its toll in stress and high blood pressure and coronary disease; but we also need to understand that busyness can also kill us spiritually.
Take some time to reflect on the prayer below. It comes from Edward Hays (Pray All Ways: A Book of Daily Worship Using All Your Senses, pp. 189-190). As you pray it reflect on its images; notice those places where what he has to say connect with your life; and, most importantly, ask yourself what God is saying to you through these words. Happy Lent!
A Prayer for Someone in a Hurry
Lord, help me this day to slow down.
It will not be easy for you-even you-
to slow me down
for I seem caught up in the traffic-rush of life.
I rush through my prayers,
hurry through my meals
and run from one thing to another.
But I have faith
that my choices and your graces together
can change my racetrack style of life.
I know, Lord, even before you whisper it in my ear,
that you are waiting for me
in the slower, quieter things of life.
Teach me, Lord of Life,
how to eat my food with awareness;
show me how to walk deliberately
rather than to run constantly,
show me how to walk deliberately
rather than to run constantly,
how to truly visit and be present
rather than merely exchanging words.
rather than merely exchanging words.
Help me, Divine Friend,
to take my time in praying to you.
Show me that it is good
just to "waste" time with you
just enjoying a sunset or a friendship.
With your presence and assistance,
I will attempt to do all things with mindfulness:
slowly, carefully
slowly, carefully
and fully aware of what I am doing.
Then, with your grace, I shall find you, my
God,
in those unhurried and mindful moments.
Amen (said very slowly)
