The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world

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In reality Jesus’ moral teachings aren’t arbitrary at all. They are laws, yes. But moral laws are no different from scientific laws like E = mc2 or gravity.26 They are statements about how the world actually works. And if you ignore them, not only do you rupture relationship with God, but you also go against the grain of the universe he created. The reality is, most of us are just too busy to live an emotionally healthy and spirituality vibrant life. Hurry is incompatible with the way of Jesus. The love, joy, and peace that form the nucleus of Jesus’ kingdom are all impossible in a life of speed. We must, as Willard went on to say, “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry.” In this would be my only criticism. The book tilts toward a "how to" manual for reorganizing your hurried life, much like someone might read a manual on how to reorganize a cluttered closet. While JMC offers many caveats that "this isn't legalism" that he's offering, without a clear infusion of the power of the gospel for the harried and hurried, alas the book can come across as just another self-help book with a dash of religion thrown in for good measure. Comer meets with John Ortberg, a California-based pastor and writer, who shares a story about Dallas Williard, who was a philosopher and spiritual leader at USC: Many of his profound points were actually quotes from other authors that he just tied together, which made me want to read works from these other authors more than his work.

Implementing a practice of simplicity is easier in some instances that others. Truly observing the Sabbath, for example, means turning off the phone and the TV and spending one day a week on being present, grateful, and narrowing our focus down to what truly matters to us. Embracing our limits and inviting discipline (budgeting, limiting TV watching, limiting social events) into our lives will bring us closer to God. Following Jesus means emulating every part of his life - the slow and unhurried pace included. All the spiritual masters from inside and outside the Jesus tradition agree on this one (as do secular psychologists, mindfulness experts, etc.): if there’s a secret to happiness, it’s simple—presence to the moment. The more present we are to the now, the more joy we tap into. A couple of months ago, John Mark and I had a very encouraging conversation about his book and what he was learning about the fruitfully unhurried way of Jesus. We aired that conversation Monday on the Unhurried Living podcast. This is one of my favorite episodes so far.Reminder: Your phone doesn’t actually work for you. You pay for it, yes. But it works for a multibillion-dollar corporation in California, not for you. You’re not the customer; you’re the product. It’s your attention that’s for sale, along with your peace of mind.21” Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The last half of the book is his offering on how to do that, pointing the reader in the direction of "solitude, sabbath, simplicity and slowing." If the alliteration reminds you of many sermon strategies, well, JMC is a pastor and this should not be surprising. But this is not necessarily a sermon series turned into book form like many popular preachers do. (Maybe it was a sermon series, but didn't strike me as such). His admonition and advice is rooted in biblical wisdom, but this is not a book in which the Book is thrown at the reader, nor is it one that exposits the Bible closely. It has as much sage advice as it does scripture citation, and while his "four practices for eliminating hurry" can certainly be found in scripture, this is not a Bible study guide. It therefore weakens his thesis for the biblically conversant reader but perhaps makes it more palatable to the unbeliever. I just hit thirty (level three!), so I have a little time under my belt. Enough to chart a trajectory to plot the character arc of my life a few decades down the road.

Escapist behaviors—When we’re too tired to do what’s actually life giving for our souls, we each turn to our distraction of choice: overeating, overdrinking, binge-watching Netflix, browsing social media, surfing the web, looking at porn—name your preferred cultural narcotic.You can tell Comer is a husband and father with kids. You can tell he came from a tiring, fast-paced, competitive rat race. In this book, he urges people to unplug, disconnect, slow down, isolate, say no, observe the sabbath, and embrace simplicity. I get it. Some people need to hear that. But that's not something I struggle with. I already know how to say "no." I need to learn how to say "yes." I’m on the unpaved road with no clue where it leads, but that’s okay. I honestly value who I’m becoming over where I end up. And for the first time in years, I’m smiling at the horizon.