Getting Somewhere
February 18, 2008
"Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else - if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."
"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" Alice in Wonderland
A middle-aged man arrives at the scene of an accident. Near one of the damaged cars, a woman's body lays in the street. Parking his car, the man rushes to the body, to see if he can be of assistance. Kneeling over the body is a young woman.
The man kneels beside her and says brusquely, "Please step aside, I've just finished a first aid course, and need space to help this woman." The young woman moves aside and makes a space for the man. The man begins to consult his first aid booklet.
After ten or fifteen seconds, the young woman taps him on the shoulder. He says, "Not now, please, this is urgent. I have no time to waste." A few more seconds passes, she taps him again, and says, "When you get to the part in your book where it tells you to call the doctor, I'm already here."
In Las Vegas, where no one sleeps, where there are not clocks, light rules the sky, day or night. There is one downside: when you step outside at night, you cannot see the stars.
Speed is like light. It can obscure, just as easily as illuminate.
As long as we bow at the altar of all things hurried (Did you know that we have fast food restaurants with express lines? Did you know that the majority of people who enter an elevator repeatedly press the "close doors" button, because the doors are not closing "fast enough?" Did you know that many e-sales companies have the policy, "we only guarantee rush orders?" Did you know that the CEO of Dominos credits, "We don't sell great pizza. We sell great speed," as the reason for their success?). . .we are less present.
The addictive nature of speed (implies urgency and therefore, importance) can "blind us" to what we have now. Hurry can blind us to who we are, and to the resources we have (blind us to the stars, or to the doctor among us).
A minister at a large church grew concerned about his harried pace of life. He called his wisest friend, described his situation and his feelings, and asked for advice. After a long pause, the friend said, "You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life."
The minister had his note pad, and in lightning speed jotted down the advice, waiting for the next nugget of wisdom. After another long pause, the minister's impatience got the best of him, his mind already racing with the pressing demands of the day, so he said, "Okay. Eliminate hurry from my life. That's good. I've got that. What else?"
Another long pause. "There is nothing else," the friend said. "You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life."
Maybe, just maybe, I do not need to rush ahead, in order to find something I already have.
Sally (Charlie Brown's sister) went to camp. She was supposed to be there a week. She came home the first day. Her explanation, "They told me going to camp was good for me. They told me that at camp I would find myself. Well, I got off the bus, and there I was. So I came home."
Above all, trust in the slow work of God. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Poems / Prayers
An awe so quiet
I don't know when it began.
A gratitude
had begun
to sing in me.
was there
some moment
dividing
song from no song?
When does dewfall begin?
When does night
fold its arms over our hears
To cherish them?
When is daybreak?
Denise Levertov
God,
We thank you for all your gifts.
This day, this night
These fruits, these flowers,
These trees, these waters-
With all these treasures you have endowed us.
The heat of the sun, the light of the moon,
The songs of the birds and the coolness of the breeze,
The green, green grass like a mattress of velvet,
All owe their existence to your grace.
Dear God, May we forever breathe the breath of your love
And every moment be aware
Of your presence above.
Amen.
Chinese prayer
Peace,
Terry Hershey
