Don't Hurry. Be Happy.

A few years ago, through the gift of podcasting, I heard preacher John Ortberg tell a story about a conversation he had with Dallas Willard, his mentor and spiritual director. John was asking what he needed to do in order to take the next step in his faith journey. Dallas told him something that has shaped my life:

You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from you life.

And I've been working to do that ever since by...
     Preparing farther ahead and in greater detail.
     Finishing the thing before in time.
     Leaving a tad earlier.
     Driving a little slower, but a lot less angry.
     Arriving a bit sooner.

It has slowed my pace and given me peace.

Not long after that I started hearing Christian leadership teachers talk about a core characteristic of effective leaders: hustle.

Great.

Don't hurry but hustle. Slow down but don't drag.

It has sort of felt to me--over these many months--like I'm supposed to move slow and fast at the same time. But like so many parts of the Christian journey I'm discovering there is a tension. A back and forth within healthy guardrails.

There are times I need to be still. Slow ALL the way down.

And there are times I need to be on the move. IMMEDIATELY.

But the encouragement I want to pass on is that there is never a time to hurry. At least for me.

A couple weeks ago I made plans with my younger daughter to see the latest Star Wars movie on its opening weekend in a theater that was about an hour away. In IMAX. (It was amazing, by the way!) The logistics were complicated. I had three places to be before we met in a parking lot near the interstate because she was coming in from a couple of hours the other way. We had a 5 minute window.

And I was running late. Like 10 minutes late.

So I had to hurry. Not hustle. Hurry.

And I felt wrong. On the inside. The 30 minutes of hurry absolutely messed me up. And (here's my giant takeaway) it stayed with me for a solid hour afterwards.

I was internally a wreck.

Anti-shalom.

And that's when I realized and appreciated that for quite some time I've been growing at "ruthlessly eliminating hurry from my life" enough that I could recognize HURRY SICKNESS for what it was.

Sick.

So I encourage you, knowing that most of you who read this regularly are very busy people, to do as Eugene Peterson translates the invitation of Jesus:

"Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace... Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (from Matthew 11:28-30)