SLOWING DOWN

OVERVIEW
When pastor and author John Ortberg asked his mentor Dallas Willard what he needed to do to be a healthy, fruitful leader, Dallas
replied, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” “That's good,” John replied, “what next?” A moment's pause, and Dallas
said, “There is no next—do that, and you'll be fine.”
The amount of hurry in our lives today is staggering. We rush from one task to another, trying even to multitask if we can—plac-
ing phone calls while checking email, updating Facebook as we stand in line at the grocery store. Much of this comes from a deeply
entrenched view that time is valuable and cannot be wasted. Some of us also feel that our worth depends on how much we produce.
But for some of us, the rush is just picked up from our culture—faster, we are told, is always better.
But the world doesn’t yield to our desire for control. Some things—the most important things—happen at their steady, even, and
impossibly slow pace. A farmer plows, plants, waters, and then waits. Mothers wait and ponder as their baby grows within them. And
God unveils his purposes over centuries, every piece at “the fullness of time.”
This practice is about slowing our interior lives down to the pace of God’s Spirit. Rather than rushing ahead, we listen. Instead of
multitasking, we linger. And as we do, our hearts quiet down and we begin to sense the direction and guidance of the Spirit. We start
to see people and things we rushed past before. We loosen our grip on control, and allow God to interrupt us with his plans, in his
times. And, above all, we learn to trust.
For more from the Bible, look at Jer. 29:11; Eph. 1:7–10; Ps. 27:14; Ps. 131; Gen. 17:15–21, 21:1–7; 2 Peter 3:8–9.

PRACTICING
There are a lot of creative ways to approach this experiment. Some will drive you nuts at first, but over time you may be surprised at
the result. Here are some ideas to get you started:
• Choose the longest line at the grocery store. Let people with small kids or just a few items go ahead of you.
• Drive the speed limit for a week, especially if you’re going on a longer trip.
• Walk or ride your bike to work or school instead of driving.
• Purposefully spend a day doing one thing at a time. If you’re with someone, don’t take calls or check email on your phone. Don’t
have the TV on while you do homework or read. Be present to what you’re doing.
• Go for a walk someplace beautiful, and linger. Do “grassblade meditation”—try to take in each blade of grass, each unique and
beautiful, one at a time.
• Leave margin between your appointments—purposefully “schedule” five or ten minute gaps in your day, or leave earlier than
usual.
As you engage these experiments, be mindful—what feelings get stirred up? What do you find consoling, or distressing, about this
practice? Whatever comes up can become a good starting place for prayer or spiritual conversation with a trusted friend, director or
counselor.

RECOMMENDED READING
Abundant Simplicity, Jan Johnson; An Unhurried Life, Alan Falding; The Freedom of Simplicity, Richard J. Foster;
The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen.

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