Dear Solomon, why the hurry?
Do you remember the white rabbit in the Disney movie “Alice in Wonderland”? The rabbit is in an awful hurry when he bumps into Alice. As he frantically hops around, he sings a song called “I’m Late.” Here are a few of the lyrics: “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.” I think many of us have made the white rabbit our role model.
Maybe we are not late all the time, but we sure seem to be in a hurry.
When you are hurried, you will have a much greater tendency to make mistakes — among other things. Solomon addresses this concern: “Uninformed zeal will attract trouble; one who acts on impulse will likely go the wrong direction.”
The problem we face is there are several ancient verses that speak of urgency because our time is limited and uncertain. So, we feel the need to get after it. But just because we are implored to have this sense of urgency doesn’t mean we have to be in a hurry.
What do I mean by that? Time is relentless. Time continues ticking regardless of what your situation is or what your intentions are. If you stop long enough and listen (assuming you haven’t gone 100% digital), you will hear a clock somewhere: tick, tick, tick ... And even if the clock stops, time doesn’t.
Being in a constant state of hurry will cause you to miss opportunities and dull your sensitivity to the spontaneous potential blessings of life. So, is it always wrong to be hurried?
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