Having come through these years of pandemic, this book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, challenged me to reflect on how Jesus offers a different life from one of hurry, noise, and busyness. He offers a life that is slower, simpler, and orientated around what really matters.
The author, John Mark Comer, begins by describing a day when he hit the wall. He realized he was always in a hurry and always behind. He asked himself, "Why am I in such a rush to become somebody I don't even like?" He confessed, "I'm so emotionally unhealthy, I'm just leaking chemical waste on others." Quoting Dallas Willard, "Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life." Comer goes on to examine how hurry is harming our souls and then offers solutions for taking back control of our life and resisting the gravitational pull of "hurry."
He notes that, "Both sin and busyness have the same effect—they cut off your connection to God." Adding, "Hurry and love are incompatible." He quotes Walter Adams: "Hurry is the death of prayer and only impedes and spoils our work."
Comer argues that, ". . . hurry is a form of violence on the soul." He warns, ". . . what you give your attention to is the person you become," suggesting that more time is not the solution. He notes that, "Life is a series of choices. Every yes is a thousand no's." He argues that the world is filling our minds with its views and values and the result is a harried and stressed society with the effects of the hurried pace of life destroying our ability to concentrate, contemplate, rest, and be healthy (absconding in escapist behaviours).
Comer's solution is to learn from Jesus. He reasons, "If you want to experience the life of Jesus, you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus." He suggests that taking on the yoke of Jesus is the same as becoming an apprentice of Jesus. He adds, "An easy life isn't an option; an easy yoke is." He makes the interesting comment, "After all, this is the man who waited three decades to preach his first sermon, and after one day on the job as Messiah, he went off to the wilderness for forty days to pray. Nothing would hurry this man." He suggests, "But here's the rub; most of us are too busy to follow Jesus."
Comer writes about four practices for unhurrying our life: silence and solitude; Sabbath; simplicity; and slowing down. His extended discussion on quiet and taking the Sabbath seriously is good, noting that "The noise of the modern world makes us deaf to the voice of God." He says of Jesus that ". . . the quiet place wasn't a onetime thing. It was an ongoing part of his life rhythm."
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry is written in a likeable, amusing manner that makes it easy to read. Comer is transparent and does not hold himself up as a perfect model. Nevertheless, he puts his finger on a huge issue for people today. A worthwhile read.
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