“You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life, for hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our world today.” Dallas Willard

“Hurry is not of the devil; it is the devil.” Carl Jung

In my small group of moms this quote from Dallas Willard sparked a discussion of the difference between being busy and being hurried. Hurry is a condition of the soul; busyness is just an outward set of circumstances. We’re all busy. We don’t have to be hurried. Yesterday the sermon in church was about hurry, and this quote from Dallas Willard was featured on the screen. Hurry must be important to pay attention to. I know it is. It’s too much a part of my life.

I particularly enjoyed the pastor’s personal stories of being quick to beep his horn at people when they sit the light. I’ve prided myself on occasion for my willingness to honk. I like to think it’s a sign of some kind of city-girl toughness or something. But really, when a person sits for two extra seconds, how much is that holding me back? How late is this pokey driver actually making me? Chances are, I’ve already made myself late, and I’m just taking out my frustration on this poor distracted driver.

This morning was remarkably un-rushed at our house. I’m trying (trying, being a key word!) to get up earlier and be better prepared for my kids. This morning everyone was fed and mostly dressed. My boys were upstairs playing the Wii. I hollered that it was time to get shoes on and grab a jacket. An answer came back, “but I’m right in the middle of this game.” I told him he could wait one minute, but Daddy would be ready to leave for school very soon. You know what happened. Daddy and sister were ready to walk out the door but sweet boy didn’t have any shoes on and was trying to force his little brother’s too-small socks on his own feet. Tears of frustration started to flow. The blame game fired up. And it’s impossible not to feel sympathy for him because I’ve been there so many times myself. Hurry is never helpful, maybe especially when we cause ourselves to be rushed.

So here is today’s prompt. Tell about a time you were in a hurry. How was hurry your enemy? Here are two instances that popped in my mind.

I got in a hurry to see the tigers  It was an elementary school field trip to the Dallas Zoo. My mother chaperoned. We moved through the zoo in some particular order but near the monkeys maybe, a blur of kids whizzed past me on the way to see the tigers, and I joined right up with the pack. The result, I realized later, is that I missed the lions, one of my favorite attractions. Through tears, I begged my mother to take me back to see them, but she said, “If you hadn’t rushed ahead to see the tigers, you would have been able to enjoy the lions, too.” I’m sure she saw this for the great teaching moment it was. And she was right, of course.

All these many years later, I have my own elementary age daughter, and I learn this lesson again and again. In our garage, we were loading the car to get everyone to work and school. My impish little one year old at the time, rolled down his window in the car and chunked his paci across the garage. It was the final straw in a rushed morning. I very maturely picked up the paci, cleaned it on my shirt, and chunked it back into the car yelling, “You people need to get your sh*# together!”

I know. I KNOW. I laughed at myself for a second because if that wasn’t the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is. But then I started to cry because who looks at these three magical beautiful creatures and says such a thing? It was not well with my soul. Through tears, I begged for mercy. Through tears, I begged that no one had heard me and would report me before I could get my own sh*# together. 

When we’re rushing, it’s usually because we think we’re going to miss something. I’m sure on that rushed morning in our garage, I was imagining being late to a meeting I thought was important but can’t even remember now. I’m sure my six year old little self thought I was missing out on real fun with that little band of friends if I didn’t run with them to the tigers. But I didn’t get to take in the majesty of lions, and I didn’t drink deep enough of the precious life that flows from those little eyes in my backseat.

Hurry is my enemy, and I’m declaring war on it. Are you with me? Rushing is costing too much. Let’s get ruthless. I don’t want to be part of that wild running pack anymore. Life with three kids, any kids, is busy. It’s hard to juggle it all. We’re going to be late. That’s all there is to it. But we’re not going to yell about it, and it’s going to be well with our souls when we finally get there.

Please.  May it be so.

Our culture promotes rushing and hurry. It glorifies it. It tells us that we’re important because we have places to be, but it causes us to miss the opportunities for kindness, love and compassion that pop up as we rush from place to place. Our society is robbing us, lying to us. Anxiety and depression are unprecedented in us. We can be busy but not so hurried. We can breathe. We can bear witness to another way.

Please don’t leave me out here all alone! Tell me about a time when you were in a hurry. Was hurry your enemy? Email your responses to shannon@lifeprompted.com