Our society today is full of hurry. We even have a name for it, hurry sickness. This is the world of next achievements and your value comes from what you have accomplished. It will wear out your very soul because it is the opposite of the “narrow path” of the Christian life.
Working in a university environment is a prime place to get this sickness. Each day, it seems, is a demand to do more, write more, publish more and it lives as a usually unspoken expectation. It is even worse if you are an administrator. I know, I have been there. And, if you are like me, it comes home with you and you hurry through most things.
I do not believe Jesus ever hurried over anything. Someone comes to ask for help and he waits a couple of days before showing up. Was he being cruel? Was he testing the person’s faith and commitment? I don’t think He ever did that. What I do think is that Jesus knew that hurry never makes things better and that living in the moment is much more important and much more faithful and much less stressful.
Can you imagine what would have happened if Jesus kept hurrying through a sermon on the mount or through healing or toward Jerusalem? Jesus knew that everything has a way of happening in God’s good time. A time much broader than our perspective can embrace. When we hurry, we are doing things to get them done, not because it is God’s way. When we hurry, we also miss details that might just matter. I am glad God does not hurry and is always patient with me because the alternative leaves me all alone and on my own.
So what about you? Are you hurrying? And if you are, why is that? For me, it is a time to let go of hurry and achievement. I am who I am and have no need to prove my worth. I think that is the hard part of being on the Christian path, to trust that you are loved and capable and valuable just the way you are. It means you have to disengage from society’s way to value people. It is not about what you do it is about who you are.
TMM