Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry

Marcus Hayes

I- I was looking at my screen time from last week, Eleanor, and it-it-it was something like four hours a day. And, I mean, most of that wasn't even work. It was just this- this constant, restless twitching, checking emails while waiting for the kettle to boil, scrolling through headlines at red lights. I realized I- I have this constant, low-grade fever of just... rush. I'm- I'm always hurrying to the next thing, even when there's absolutely no reason to.

Eleanor Finch

That is what psychologists call "hurry sickness." It- it isn't just about having a full calendar, Marcus. It's a psychological condition where we feel this- this continuous struggle and unremitting sense of urgency. Like we are perpetually running late for a flight we didn't even book.

Marcus Hayes

Yes! Exactly! That- that is the exact feeling. It's like my soul is constantly panting. And- and the real cost isn't just that I'm tired. It's that when I'm in that state... I- I am incredibly bad at loving people. I get snippy with the kids, I'm impatient in the grocery line, I- I find myself treating people as obstacles instead of, you know, image-bearers of God.

Eleanor Finch

Mm. It- it erodes our capacity for love because love requires presence, and presence demands time. There is a famous quote from the late theologian Dallas Willard. When his- his student John Ortberg asked him what he needed to do to stay spiritually healthy, Willard gave this- this incredibly provocative, single-sentence response. He said, "You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life."

Marcus Hayes

"Ruthlessly eliminate." Man, that is... it's a terrifying phrase, isn't it? He didn't say, you know, "try to manage your time a bit better" or "download a meditation app." He said ruthlessly... eliminate it. Like it's a- a weed in the garden that's choking everything else out.

Eleanor Finch

Quite. And when Ortberg asked him, "Okay, what's next?" Willard apparently said, "There is nothing else." He saw hurry as the great enemy of spiritual life. Not because busyness itself is inherently sinful, but because it- it- it is a systemic blocker. You cannot hear the "still, small voice" when you are constantly blasting the white noise of a frantic schedule.

Marcus Hayes

It really shifts how you think about following Jesus, doesn't it? Like, for years, I think I practiced Christianity as a- a set of beliefs. You know, I believe the right things, I go to church on Sunday, I- I check the boxes. But this... this is different. This is about apprenticing under Jesus. Actually looking at his life—the way he walked, the way he rested, the way he didn't run from town to town even though there were literally thousands of sick people left unhealed—and saying, "I want to live at that pace."

Eleanor Finch

Apprenticing is the perfect word for it. It's moving from- from mere admiration of Jesus' teachings to actually adopting his lifestyle. It means recognizing that you cannot buy into his theology without also buying into his- his rhythms.

Marcus Hayes

So- so how do we actually do that? Because, let's be honest, my schedule looks like a Tetris game where the blocks are falling at triple speed. It feels like if I just try to "add" more spiritual disciplines—like, okay, now I need to add forty-five minutes of silent prayer to my already packed morning—I'm just going to burn out faster. It's- it's- it's self-defeating.

Eleanor Finch

Well, that is where we have to shift from addition to subtraction. We think the solution to a crowded inner life is to do more, but scripture actually points us toward doing less. It starts with the Sabbath. And I don't mean the- the legalistic, "you can't walk more than a mile" kind of Sabbath. I mean the beautiful, restorative rhythm of stopping for a full twenty-four hours.

Marcus Hayes

Stopping. Just... stopping. That- that actually sounds terrifying to a lot of us. I mean, what do you even do with yourself if you aren't producing something? We've tied our entire worth to our output, right?

Eleanor Finch

We have. We are human doings rather than human beings. The Hebrew word *Shabbat* literally means "to cease" or "to stop." It is a weekly declaration that the world can run without us for a day. It's an act of trust, Marcus. It is saying, "God, you are the provider, not my endless striving." It is a boundary built into the fabric of creation to protect us from our own- our own hubris, really.

Marcus Hayes

That makes so much sense. It's- it's like a sanctuary in time. But to get there, we- we have to do some serious calendar pruning. I had to- to sit down last month and literally look at my week and ask, "What am I willing to say 'no' to so that I can say 'yes' to my own soul?" And for me, the first thing on the chopping block had to be the digital stuff. I put this little basket by the front door. It's the "phone sleeping bag." At 7:00 PM, the phone goes in the basket, and it doesn't come out until the next morning.

Eleanor Finch

That is incredibly practical. And I imagine it was excruciatingly difficult at first?

Marcus Hayes

Oh, absolutely. I- I kept walking by the basket, feeling this phantom vibration in my pocket. It's- it's pathetic, really, how addicted we are to the drip-drip of notifications. But after a few days... oh man, the- the quiet started to feel like a gift rather than a threat. I actually noticed the sunset. I- I read a physical book. I- I listened to my wife without looking over her shoulder at a glowing screen.

Eleanor Finch

That is the- the sacred art of subtraction. It's clearing away the clutter so we can- can actually notice the goodness of God that was already there, hidden under the noise. It's- it's about reclaiming the quiet, unremarkable moments of each day—the morning coffee, the walk to the mailbox, the silence between tasks—as holy ground.

Marcus Hayes

Yeah. It's- it's realizing that God isn't waiting for us at the end of some frantic finish line. He's right here, in the slow lane. We just have to- to slow down enough to catch up with him.

Eleanor Finch

Well, on that note, let's- let's put the microphones down and go find some of that quiet ourselves.

Marcus Hayes

Sounds like a plan. Talk soon, Eleanor.