No time like the present
Been reflecting on how much our social need for speed gives meaning to all our other actions, including prayer. And it isn’t pretty.
Tech companies like Google Maps know this well. It is why it will send me on a non-scenic route because its algorithms say I am not interested in an enjoyable scenic journey only time saved. So, are they right or wrong?
It might surprise you that Starbucks has adopted another view. Although their coffee machines can quickly knock out drinks, they’ve discovered customers want a handmade personalised ‘barista’ experience. So, they have slowed down their service to just two cups at a time. It also makes the price feel more reasonable!
Now I am not sure that would work for McDonald’s but there is a clear problem and that is we don’t want to see it as a problem. Not least tech businesses that trade on speed. Meanwhile, we are tricked into thinking that any time wasted is a life wasted. It is all about one thought: making you think you are worth more by doing more.
So I am trying to figure this all out in context with Paul's words: “Creation waits in eager anticipation…For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all” (Rom 8:18 & 24).
And here lies the problem for me: patience really isn’t seen as much of a virtue at all even though it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. As James K. A Smith puts it, we “will always sit somewhat uneasy in the present, haunted by the brokenness of the ‘now’” meaning in short, we will want to be anywhere but here because ‘here’ is imperfect.
Our spiritual journey can want to comply with the same social need for speed. It is why if we are not careful, we will only fuel our faith with social media quotes and soundbite sermon reels.
It’s why we get frustrated with slow answers to short prayers. When speed is our need more than time with Jesus it will do that to you.
But what are we rushing towards to do? What’s so important that we can’t go slow and take the scenic route? Because here’s the thing: one day we will realise there are more years behind us than in front of us. Only then will we wish we found ways to throw on the brakes and slow the journey, to be present and enjoy God in the smallest, most ordinary things gifted around us.
I mean, do we really want ‘Chronos’, the god of time, ruling our spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being? To stop the tyranny of a speeded-up life we are going to have to deal with the root cause of our impatience. Hans Urs von Balthasar goes so far as to call it “sin”. He says, “Patience [is] the main constituent of Christianity…the power to wait, to persevere, to hold out, to endure to the end, not to transcend one’s own limitations, not to force issues by playing the hero or the titan, but to practise the virtue that lies beyond heroism, the meekness of the lamb which is led.”
Patience for me is learned best when seeing life through the in-between moments of the day: the pauses, interruptions, commas, and full stops. It is having space to acknowledge what has been done for me, how I have been made, and not what I can solely achieve for myself given more time.
Slowing down and learning patience will also in some cases save us–quite literally! When you get in a car you will see a speedometer on your dashboard, but if you were to add an odometer that measures the speed you need to travel to go say 10 miles, you would notice you will get there twice as quickly just pushing your pedal down a bit and going from 10 mph to 20 mph. But when you drive at 70 mph and you realise you are going to be late, moving up to 80 mph will only shave a minute or two of your time, making it a pointless and dangerous action.
It’s why doing daily devotions such as the Lectio 365 app is a lesson as much in patience as anything else. It is 10 minutes where we are encouraged to go slow to go deeper. It also won’t have that Playback Speed function you find on YouTube–just in case you are wondering!
Our assurance of future hope is found in Jesus breaking into the present human constraints of time and progress and eliminating our hurry. It means we will all make it home in good time.