Slowing

I am teaching Bible Class Sunday morning on the topic "Slowing".  It is a spiritual discipline in which one deliberately develops patience by putting oneself in positions of waiting.  The main idea is to slow down life to a place where a closer relatinship to God can be developed.  We are using John Ortberg's book The Life You've Always Wanted in our classes this semester, stressing the importance of spiritual disciplines.

John Ortberg asked a friend, "What must I do to be spiritually healthy?"  The friend replied,
"YOU MUST RUTHLESSLY ELIMINATE HURRY FROM YOUR LIFE." Ortberg goes on to explain that many Americans today are suffering from "hurry sickness"--that is, the constant attempts to add more and more things and to attend more and more events in our lives in a shorter amount of time.  It is true that our culture overstresses doing rather than being.  With the advent of multi-tasking and being available 24/7, we have gone into overdrive.  I think those two things are inventions of the devil.

Among the risks of "hurry sickness" besides high blood pressure is the sabotaging of our closeness to God.
We just don't have time because we are too busy working, going to the mall, watching TV, checking our Blackberry and cell phone, answering e-mails, contributing to Facebook and Twitter (we talk to those friends far more than we talk to God!).

Some of the symptoms of "hurry sickness" tomorrow.