When do you ever stop? (image courtesy of pixabay.com)
Pastor John Ortberg once asked author Dallas Willard what he needed to do to be “spiritually healthy,” and Willard replied, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life” (source). But what does it mean to “be in a hurry”? What does “being hurried” actually mean?
I’m trying to evaluate whether “hurriedness” is a state of our society or is it, rather, MORE a state of our hearts? What I have mostly within this post is a series of questions trying to diagnose the problem and discover solutions. We have “hurried hearts,” therefore, we feel hurried? Can we say that the “hurriedness” and the “busyness” of life is not nearly as impactful from outside of ourselves as it is coming from within ourselves?
If we can assume, at least in some measure, that our hearts are at the root of our “hurried” problem, then what are the roots, within the heart, that are causing this symptom?
Is busyness and stress due more so to outside influences pressing upon us, or is the busyness and stress, rather, a symptom of a “diseased heart” that is “ate up” with being “hurried”?
Is “hurry” something merely imposed upon us, or is it a status of the heart? Is hurry more a “heart problem,” or is it more a societal problem?
Could it be that part of our “hurried” lifestyles, rooted in a “hurried heart,” is due to that fact that we are so distracted from within? What is the relationship between being “hurried” and being “distracted”? And how could being undistracted, or removing distractions, cause our hearts to slow down and not to hurry so much?
Could it be that we are so unfocused in life that we, thus, feel “hurried” in some manner? Does a lack of focus contribute to our being “hurried” so much?
Our hearts are going in so many directions, that it’s easy to see that we are not devoted to just one thing, but to many things. Could there be a way to find one thing (God!) that would unify all of the other things that are devoted to so that we could focus ourselves on doing one thing, rather than many things? And could narrowing down our lives to being devoted to one thing (God) cause our hearts to be less hurried?
Simplicity means to choose less and to not live extravagantly or in too much abundance. To live in a cluttered space means that there are piles of books or clothes or papers (you name it) that are crowding our space and that are, therefore, taking over our minds. I’ve personally experienced inner anxiety whenever I’ve been around too much clutter, especially my own. My old office was a mess, and it was my fault. I had books and papers and periodicals all over the place. Within my heart, I was stressed about my office. There was nothing “simple” about my office or its set up. Could it be that the anxiety and “hurriedness” of my heart would decrease should I see to increase simplicity and eliminate clutter from my life?
Below are some other words and contrast of words that, I think, may help us evaluate the concept of “hurriedness” a little more. I am not filling in too much below, so I would invite you to fill in your own thoughts under the categories below, maybe, in the “comments” section at the bottom of the post.
“Redeeeming the time for days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16)