The Four Habits Of A Happily Inefficient Person
by on Dec 7th, 2010 at 2:25 am
A few months ago, I turned thirty years of age, and I decided it was time to make some adjustments to my modus operandi in life. Some might call it an early mid-life crisis, but I’m not interested in reclaiming my youth. In fact, I’m making adjustments to slam the hatch shut on those unhealthy youthful aspects that keep trying to surface during my day.
Over the past couple of years, the level of responsibility on my shoulders has increased in almost every dimension of my life. I’m the “grizzled veteran” among my co-workers who share the same title. In five years, I transitioned from single to married to married with a child. My opportunities to teach in the church steadily increase and now I serve the church as a deacon, which brings its own important responsibilities. I needed to sharpen my discipline if I was to be ready for the weight that such responsibilities bring.
I have made four adjustments so far and all of them could be considered trite and symbolic. They are not biblical requirements or specifically spiritual disciplines. They are simply four ways to slow down because I have been living too fast without regard for my days. Just so you’re not left wondering what they are: 1) shaving with an “old school” safety razor, 2) wearing clothes that required ironing and polishing frequently, 3) waking up before sunrise even if my work day starts in the late morning, and 4) journaling by hand.
Every one of these four activities demands taking a slower pace to life. I would slit my jugular if I shaved as fast with my razor as I did the modern razors. At least two to three hours are now spent weekly at the ironing board or on my knees shining shoes. Waking up before sunrise seems to be a time saver, but what it really demands is that I go to bed earlier and at a consistent time the night before that sunrise. Journaling at all takes thought and time, but to write slowly by hand when I can type 80-100 words a minute easily borders on insanity. Yet, all of these new disciplines have made me a better coach of my time. They demand focused attention, and I am becoming less wasteful of the time that remains as well as more deliberate in my words and actions throughout my day. By adopting a slower, yet more intentional pace to life, I was (and still am) exposed to my addiction to efficiency and idolatry of change.
Our culture is addicted to speed and in love with change. This is a deadly combination when left unchecked. We chase speed records because we want to. We demand faster turnover of new technological products that give us more of what we want faster than we could dream of having it. We wage discussions of next year’s champions the day after this year’s champions are crowned. We crave headlines more than we do the articles. We all want to appear busy before other people because somehow, the hectic, frenetic life is apparently the sign of success and status. Boredom is deemed heretical and the cultural priests worthy of double honor always seem to be “ahead of the times.” Neil Postman anyone?
In my life, this addiction to speed and love of change has resulted in obsessive behavior. I valued overwork and efficiency. I neglected my body and surroundings for the tasks directly in front of me. In football or drum corps that might be admirable, but in life it is destructive. How bad was it? My son’s first word was, “clock.” Yeah, it was clearly time for a change.
I allowed the thinking of the world to overwhelm me and drive my values in the workplace and in the pocketbook. Post-Darwinian Americana has concluded that the supernatural does not exist, which is supposed to kill any hope of eternal existence. This one life is all I have and when it is done, all is over for me. With such a view in mind, it is no wonder that people race to cook their food faster, travel from place to place quicker, earn more resources, consume more calories, and try to cram as much life as possible into three quarters of a century. People in denial about eternity have to achieve all their goals immediately or not at all.
Yet, the Bible’s understanding of the world is in opposition Post-Darwinian Americana. Death is a transition. Christ’s believers have an eternity to enjoy. This should compel Christians to take a chill pill and not be in such a hurry to consume life like a glutton. We don’t have to live under the tyranny of an explicit or implicit “bucket list.” In fact, the best of this life’s pleasures are probably pitiful in comparison to heaven’s tedium.
Instead of swallowing all of life’s pleasures and pains whole, we can actually benefit from savoring each bite even if we are left with too little time to eat every course at the Cosmos Buffet. Because God exists and is sovereign over the history of the world in addition to my own little life, I can find joy and satisfaction in not having to run that world or be privy to all of its affairs. I am freed to concentrate on the responsibilities He has laid before me with the God-given barriers of human limits on one side and the clock on the other.
Living this way does not mean neglecting the reality of the sense of urgency that God has imparted to us in these last days. Scripture tells us to redeem our time and be conscious of the fact that this era of history, the last one prior to the eternal era, is extremely limited; with consequences befalling both those who trust God and those who oppose Him (Ephesians 5:1-20; Hebrews 10:19-25; 1 Peter 4:7-11; 2 Peter 3:1-18).
What I am talking about is a life of contentment with Christ and disciplined restraint from the idolatry of having all for one’s self. We would then be positioned to give our all to serving our King and His interests. He has promised ease in the eternity ahead so we don’t have to work ourselves empty trying to be filled with today’s passing treasures.
We can live deliberate days; using them knowingly and purposefully. We might not have all of the adventures of adrenaline junkies, business tycoons, playboys, celebrities, or trust fund babies in this lifetime, but we somehow won’t care when introduced to the treasures of heaven and the eternal timeline to explore, discover, and properly enjoy them.