Hurry Sickness

Friday, October 24, 2008 -- Week of Proper 24

Today's Reading for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 989)
Psalms 31 (morning) 35 (evening)
Ecclesiasticus* 11:2-20
Revelation 9:13-20
Luke 10:38-42

* found in the Apocrypha; also called the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach, or just Sirach

"My child, do not busy yourself with many matters; if you multiply activities, you will not be held blameless. If you pursue, you will not overtake, and by fleeing you will not escape. There are those who work and struggle and hurry, but are so much the more in want." (Sirach 11:10)

"Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.' But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:40-42)

"For fast-acting relief, try slowing down." (Lily Tomlin)

I've got a case of time-sickness, the disease of busyness. There are so many good things I want to do. I am a glutton. I cram more activities than the time can bare, like cramming more food than a stomach can bare. Like a tummy-ache, I get a busy-ache. Going to fast, I knock things over, skim the surface, miss an opportunity.

I remember a moment at a particularly anxious General Convention. The number of resolutions we needed to address had risen to an ominous place. We had limited debate to sound bytes and tried every parliamentary trick to speed up a slow, deliberative process. The urgency began to push the system. As the chair tried to accelerate the pace, there was a glitch. One procedure got in front of another, and the process ground to a confused halt. The chair stopped. Breathed. In a calm, deliberate voice he said, "When we go fast, we go slow." He breathed again, then completely changed his metabolism and began to return deliberately to each next step of untangling. It untangled, and we slowed to an effective, deliberative speed.

There are few things in our culture more contagious than hurry sickness. It seems drummed into us from childhood. I remember learning the unspoken rule of my first workplace. Look busy. We are plagued with busyness, swamped by demands, scattered by things that want our attention.

I see a connection between these themes from Sirach and Luke and the plagues of Revelation 9. Like the ghost of Christmas Future, Revelation shows the horrifying vision of destruction that is the by-product of the Greco-Roman culture (or any materialistic empire). He tells his readers to "repent of the work of their hands" and to "give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk." He might add to that list, "to-do lists." The Empire doesn't just plague us with violence and greed, it also infects us with hurry-up and speed.

There's a chapter called "The Unhurried Life" that tells about a man asking advice from a wise friend. "What do I need to do to be healthy?" The answer: "You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life." "Okay, that's a good one," he wrote it down. "Now, what else?" Long pause. Nothing else. "You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life."

Contemplative Prayer or Centering Prayer helps unhook us from attachment to busyness. There's nothing you can do to hurry up 20-minutes of silence, except be still. A human being; not a human doing.

Lowell

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About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
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The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas