The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world
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Intermission-Part 3, Chapter 8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Intermission Summary & Analysis: “Wait, What Are Spiritual Disciplines Again?”
The Intermission is a brief excursus in the middle of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, a pivot-point for the transition from theory to practice in between Parts 2 and 3. Though with considerably less text than the book’s chapters, it presents the reader with necessary information for understanding the advice to come in Part 3.
Comer begins by observing that when we read biographies of great people whom we might wish to emulate, we often go looking for clues to their manner of life—their habits and choices that provided structure and direction to their exemplary lives—in order to then see if we can apply those patterns to anything in our own lives. Unfortunately, Comer notes, many people don’t read the biblical gospels that way, although they are also biographies. Readers of the gospels should pay attention to the details related there about how Jesus went about his daily life: “I would argue that these stories about the details of Jesus’ life have just as much to teach us about life in the kingdom as his teachings or miracles” (104).
Comer presents the patterns and habits of Jesus’s life as being the set of actions which Christians traditionally refer to as “spiritual disciplines” (See: Index of Terms). Rather than using the rhetoric of spiritual disciplines, however, Comer prefers to call them “practices of Jesus” (105), since they are not just a list of helpful advice, but actions rooted in Jesus’s own manner of life. These practices, Comer believes, do not just provide training for one’s willpower and character, but open one up to God’s power in one’s daily life, and are thus able to effect deep-rooted change in a way that we cannot do on our own strength alone. The practices of Jesus are not, then, an exercise in willpower or self-discipline, but the acceptance of an invitation to slow down and open ourselves up, providing time and space for God’s work in our lives to grow and bear fruit.
The Intermission is a vital section of the book, not only because of the unique role it plays in the pivot from Part 2 to Part 3, but because it is printed in a different style than the other chapters. Its text is in a much larger font and with a switch in the primary shades, moving from black text on white pages in the other chapters to white text on black pages in the intermission. This tactic draws attention to the Intermission, using the elements of the book’s printing to emphasize the points Comer is making and indicate their importance to the advisements of Part 3. The stylistic presentation of the text underscores its importance in the work as a whole as Comer stresses that people must Follow a Daily Apprenticeship to Jesus. This section thus sets the stage for Comer to begin laying out specific patterns of behavior that fit the theoretical framework he established in Part 2.
Chapter Lessons:
- The gospels are biographies whose practical lessons can be applied to our own lives.
- Jesus’s life sets forth vital practices that, if adopted, allow people to gain access to God’s power in day-to-day living.
- It is important to abandon one’s sense of hurry and slow down so that God can begin to work in one’s life.
- Accepting the practices of Jesus can give rise to a series of life-changing inner dynamics.
Reflection Questions:
- Why does Comer refer to the “practices” of Jesus rather than to spiritual “disciplines”?
- How do you seek to make space in your life for deeper spiritual or philosophical considerations?
Part 3, Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis: “Silence and Solitude”
Chapter 7 introduces the first of four practices of Jesus which Comer presents in Part 3: silence and solitude, Sabbath, simplicity, and habits of slowing down. Comer begins by illustrating the dramatic changes in contemporary society within the previous 30 years, during which time people went from a culture in which waiting in silence (with the concomitant boredom) was a real part of everyday experience, to a culture in which media entertainment is so pervasive and so accessible that there are no moments left in which silent waiting is required—there are always the infinite distractions of a smartphone at hand. While effacing boredom from our lives might not sound so bad at first, Comer argues that the ability to fill every moment with distraction is having a dangerous effect: “[T]his new normal of hurried digital distraction is robbing us of the ability to be present” (121).
Comer examines several of the gospel stories about Jesus, noting in particular the way that he often retreated out to the eremos (variously translated as “wilderness,” “deserted place,” or—Comer’s favorite— “a quiet place”) to spend time alone and pray. The striking feature of these stories is that Jesus appears to withdraw into quiet places even more frequently when circumstances in his life are the busiest, which suggests that what we need in the midst of busyness is not more time for more tasks, but more time to rest and recharge in the presence of God to be fully present for the tasks we have.
This practice of withdrawing, often called “silence and solitude” in the Christian literature on spiritual disciplines, requires both an internal and external silence: both the absence of a noisy environment and the pursuit of an inward stillness from the turmoil of our own thoughts. This is best found in solitude, in finding times and places to be alone from others, but this aloneness is really just an entry into a deeper level of community, as we learn to be present with God: “In solitude we’re anything but alone. In fact, that’s where many of us feel most in connection to God” (134). The danger of not following Jesus’s model of silence and solitude is that we will feel more distant from God, thus less able to grow in our spiritual lives, and thus less able to be fully present in other dimensions of our lives as well. Comer presents his readers with two options: Relearn the ancient practices of Jesus’s way or go on with our harried, frenetic pace of life, leading to exhaustion and discontent.
In Chapter 7, Comer returns to his urging that people Avoid the Trap of a Hurried Lifestyle, and he takes special note of how the infinite distractions of digital entertainment prevent us from learning to rest and to seek God’s presence in our lives. He then ties this with the need to Follow a Daily Apprenticeship to Jesus, by studying Jesus’s life and applying the pattern of his practices to our own lives. In this case, the practice in question is Jesus’s habit of going out into places of solitude for frequent prayer, particularly in seasons of busyness. To be a true apprentice of the way of Jesus, one has to find ways to follow this aspect of Jesus’s lifestyle, and Comer suggests that doing so will expand our ability to Live in the Present Moment. By cultivating the habits of silence and solitude, we are then able to rest and grow spiritually, enabling us to be present with God in that moment and to be more fully present in our relationships and tasks at other moments.
Chapter Lessons:
- Media and technology have poisoned modern-day society with a pervasive attitude of busyness and distraction.
- As Jesus demonstrates, a key solution is to withdraw and seek solitude in order to better reflect on the important spiritual aspects of life.
- Seeking out solitude from other people allows one to commune with the presence of God.
- Ignoring this practice of Jesus and continuing with society’s over-busy ways will lead to a life of stress and spiritual emptiness.
Reflection Questions:
- How might you most effectively seek solitude and recharge? What would be the best way to add this practice to your daily routine?
- What personal techniques might you adopt in order to live more fully in the present?
Part 3, Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis: “Sabbath”
Comer begins with a philosophical and experiential analysis of the human condition, noting that in every culture throughout history, humanity has expressed the unending scope of its desires and the frustration that comes from being unable to fulfill them. Because our infinite desires conflict with our finite limitations, we are left to contend with the inevitable restlessness of the human condition. Comer suggests that this familiar dynamic comes down to the fact that we were made to Focus on the Presence of God—and more specifically, an infinite God. As he states, “Human desire is infinite because we were made to live with God forever in his world and nothing less will ever satisfy us, so our only hope is to put desire back in its proper place on God” (146).
To do this, one needs to put all other desires beneath that overarching, God-focused purpose, in which all human desire finds its proper context and delight. One of the main biblical ways this problem of human desire is addressed is through the Old Testament ritual of observing the Sabbath, and since Jesus observed the Sabbath, Comer contends that the same practice ought to guide those who live in apprenticeship under him. Once again highlighting that people must Follow a Daily Apprenticeship to Jesus, Comer seeks to portray the manner of Jesus’s life as something that his followers should directly emulate.
“Sabbath” is derived from a Hebrew word which simply means “to stop.” In ancient Israelite culture, as in Jewish culture today, the Sabbath was observed on the seventh day of the week; it was seen as an obligatory time to stop one’s other tasks and labors and to spend time resting and delighting in God and in the good things God has given. Comer advises his readers to consider the Sabbath not just as a day of the week, but as a whole way of being. He stresses the importance of conforming one’s own practice to the rhythm in which God made the world operate. Not only is this practice reflected in the life of Jesus, but it is also drawn from the Bible creation story, in which God rested on the seventh day after six days of creative work: “And in doing so, [God] built a rhythm into the DNA of creation. A tempo, a syncopated beat […] When we fight this work-six-days, Sabbath-one-day rhythm, we go against the grain of the universe” (153).
Sabbath is therefore best practiced as a one-day-in-seven habit, but its outlook ought to reframe the way we act on every day of the week. Rather than a rule to follow, the practice of a weekly Sabbath is an invitation to dive into those things which are truly life-giving, nourishing, and richly rewarding. Comer invites his readers to consider the following question to shape their practice of Sabbath: “What could I do for twenty-four hours that would fill my soul with a deep, throbbing joy?” (155).
Comer further analyzes the biblical tradition of the Sabbath—especially its treatment in the two renditions of the Ten Commandments (in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5)—and suggests two major aspects of Sabbath-practice for his readers. First, he notes that Sabbath bears a command to rest and to worship, and that these two elements cover everything one should try to do on a Sabbath—restful activities and a worshipful orientation to God. Second, he sees in the biblical tradition an interpretation of Sabbath as a means of resistance against the predatory power structures of the world. The Israelites who were given the Ten Commandments had just come out from under a brutalized life of incessant work as enslaved persons under the greatest world power of the day, Egypt. The practice of taking one day to cease working was itself a statement against the way in which Egypt and other hegemonic cultures sought to push its workers to complete more and more labor. Practicing Sabbath, then, entails taking a stand against the unhealthy power structures and productivity-oriented cultures of the world. This idea ties in with Comer’s contention that people should Avoid the Trap of a Hurried Lifestyle, which he sees as underlying many of the predatory political and economic features of contemporary life around the world.
Comer closes the chapter with personal reflections on his own practice of Sabbath (another frequent stylistic feature of sermons, reflecting yet again Comer’s background as a pastor). His practice of Sabbath has trained him to find restful and worshipful ways of experiencing all the other days in the week as well. In doing so, he finds not only that Sabbath is usually the best day of the week for him, but that its restful pace overflows into his whole week. This matches his contention that people must Live in the Present Moment, as this practice allows people to approach their use of time with a stronger sense of the abiding presence of God.
Chapter Lessons:
- Humanity’s restlessness comes from the conflict between our infinite desires and the finite nature of our limitations and state of being.
- In order to regain our innate sense of satisfaction, we must align our infinite desires with a “proper” focus on God.
- The ritual of observing the Sabbath and resting on every seventh day can facilitate this process.
- Periodically ceasing one’s labor is a powerful way to push back against the modern world’s toxic fixation on constant productivity.
Reflection Questions:
- In your past experiences, have you ever developed insatiable desires that detracted from your appreciation of life? What measures did you take to adjust your outlook?
- What rituals do you use to create a sense of space, calm, and serenity in your life?
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