Commenters to blogger Anne Jackson’s Flowerdust site point to a critical problem chronically dispersed among the faithful (and, we note, its leaders): we pray way too fast.
There is a serious point here.
How can someone stuck in roadrunner mode preach the wisdom of slowness? The answer is they can’t.
It’s like Wall Street bankers singing the praises of salary restraint. Or Tiger Woods promoting monogamy. It doesn’t wash.
As Gandhi said, you must be the change you wish to see in the world.
The church is uniquely equipped to make the case for slowness.
But it must put its own house in order first.
It has to practice what it preaches…
If spiritual health and real engagement with the holy depend on our ability to slow down, what sort of fix does that put us in if we don’t think we have the luxury?
Jackson posits the dilemma well:
Are we relying on the power within ourselves to accomplish the work in the world that we believe needs to happen? Or are we relying on our faith, and the power of community to do it?