Choosing a “Snail’s Pace”

So much of the truth revealed through the scriptures is counterintuitive. At face value it does not make sense. One of the results is that we have to stop, think about it, and go a little deeper. For example:

• To save your life, you must lose it.
• To live, you must die.
• To get, you must give.
• To genuinely love, there are things you must hate.

And there is one that is not explicitly found in the scriptures, but nevertheless is in there:

• To go farther you must go slower.

Yes! In the big picture of life “slow” is good and often the absolute best way to do things.

In our culture, here in the USA, we admire speed and often exalt it as the highest value. If something can be done faster, it’s better.

• Why do some of us push the accelerator to the floor to get to the next traffic light?
• Why are many restaurants rated according to how quickly they deliver food to our tables or to our doors?
• Why do we look for the shortest check-out line?
• Why are computers and phones praised and marketed according to their speed connecting us to the internet?

Go ahead; I bet you can add many more to this list.

Sometimes the preference for swiftness is to save money. Completing a four-year college degree in three years rather than six has strong monetary motivation. But most often the issue is that I just do not like waiting. I want to see things happen sooner rather than later. Waiting is another topic that I have written on more than once (Choosing to Wait). Here I want to talk about how valuing the slowness of a process can enrich our lives and better prepare us for eternity.

A Little Slower, Please

Besides speed limit signs that most of us ignore, there are other reminders of this value. One of Aesop’s Fables is “The Tortoise and Hare.” While many lessons can be drawn from it, the most common one is slow and steady is preferable to fast and sporadic. Hebrew Wisdom Literature agrees and reminds us that “the race is not to the swift” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). And there is that phrase my grandmother spoke over me more than once as a kid: “Haste makes waste.”

But neither do we want to squander time. So, we look for every conceivable way to get what we want or what we believe rightfully belongs to us as quickly as possible. We look to get where we are going faster to “save time.” Yet accelerated living rarely gives us more time. The automobile, for example, has allowed us to get places quicker. But rather than letting that give us more margin in our day to do the important things of life (like cultivating stronger relationships), we move farther away from our places of employment and significant relationships (because of the speed with which we can travel). Now we spend hours sitting in cars.

God’s Timing, Not Mine

The story of David in the Old Testament reveals a picture of God not being in a hurry. The prophet Samuel anointed David as a teenager, around 15 years old, to be king of Israel. But he was not crowned and given the kingdom until he was 30. Between those two events, he was accused of treachery, hunted, lived in caves, aware he could be betrayed at any time. He even had a couple opportunities to speed things up by killing his persecutor (King Saul). Yet he refused to try to make events go faster. When it was finally time (15 years later), the kingdom was placed firmly into his and his family’s hands.

Taking it slowly, often, is how God does things. Frequently, the process (of taking time) is more valuable to Him than the product. There is so much to do, see, hear, and learn along the way, people to love and truth to absorb. We miss it if we are too focused on speed.

Speed is a Thief

What are potential pitfalls of going too fast?

• Crashing (think of car wrecks, thoughtless decisions, or words quickly spoken).
• Accumulating but not noticing mistakes or sins I commit (slowing down gives opportunity to reflect).
• Missing the quiet beauty around me (the most poignant and truth-filled moments are often gone in a flash as I speed by).
• Hurrying past God’s will for my life (it’s not always easy to see, let alone understand, on the first pass).
• Going faster than those with whom I am sharing life (neglecting important relationships).
• Finding myself ahead, but alone (what, in the end, makes a truly successful life?).

These points all have a common theme of missing what gives life meaning. Why are so many people dissatisfied with their lives?

Do It Right and Make It Last

What kind of things are better when done slowly?

• Preparing a special meal (create and savor those special flavors with that special person).
• Making a major purchase (two words: buyer’s remorse).
• Getting up in the morning (a case for rising early to prepare myself for a day full of meaning).
• Choosing a spouse (that is, if I’m taking “till death do us part” seriously).
• Spending time with family (most my regrets have to do with missing key moments with my kids because I was rushing to solve a problem or prevent a crisis).
• Meditating on Eternity and my relationship with God (am I prepared to live forever?)

These points all have to do with investing time into that which will bear fruit in the future – long-term fruit. There are many more, I am sure.

Rushing through life ultimately is an indicator of a shallow view of eternity, or no view of it at all. We are going to live forever. When you look back, what will be the source of the greatest regrets in your life? I doubt it will be that you wish you had done things a bit faster.

Choose to NOT hurry past God’s will.

Response:

• What are the reasons I hurry? How many of them are merely empty habits?
• What are the areas of my life where slowing down could bring long-term benefit?
• How might cutting activities and creating more margins in my life enrich my relationships? How might it enrich the health of my mind and soul?
• How might slowing down better prepare me for eternity?
• Jesus, help me slow down so I don’t miss you.

(Edited and reposted from November 4, 2024 “Choosing to Go Slow”)