I’d like to posit four guesses, though I won’t be able to give a definitive defense of any of them. As the kids say, I’m bereft of receipts.
First, we may not be as radically more hurried than we once were. Instead we may be comparing the weights and responsibilities we have at this later stage in our lives with an earlier stage in our lives. The fewer expectations we have the fewer burdens we carry. When I was a baby I had no deadlines. As a kid I had to go to school, do homework and a few chores. But meals were prepared for me. My laundry was done for me. My housing was given to me. As a teen I picked up a part time job, mostly to have money to spend on my favorite things in my abundant free time. Children, a home and a yard, internet, electric, cell phone, insurance, gas, these things add up as demands on our time and mental energy. Most of these things, however, are things grown-ups had to deal with fifty years ago.
Second, we may be guilty of allowing our “want to’s” into our “have to’s.” If I feel rushed because I have to get through my racquetball game in time to go out to dinner before I go to the movies I’m failing to enjoy the racquetball game, dinner out and movie as what they are, times of rest and refreshment. If I have to work long hours in order to get my work done before my three week river cruise in Europe I may not be as hurried as I think I am.
Third, our efficiency tools, instead of increasing our margins, have crowded into them. The cellphone made everyplace we were into the workplace and every hour of the day work time. The smartphone made everyplace we were into worldwide information exchange place and every hour of the day time to exchange information. We’re expected to produce the results that come from constant connection. Even when we’re not on our phones, knowing that we could be wears on us.
My fourth theory is that we have forgotten how to rest. It is not my desire to dredge up old debates on keeping the sabbath, or the relationship of it to the Lord’s Day. I don’t want to dicker over whether a game of nine-pins is permitted or a Little League game forbidden. Far less do I want to dip my toes into arguments about Blue Laws. I simply want to observe that one other difference between our hurriedness and the relative peace of our grandparents is that they, by and large, neither worked, nor played hard, nor bought and sold on Sundays.
One thing we know from the fourth commandment is that God made us to both work, and to rest. We have been designed for the rhythms of the week, the only time measurement unconnected to the stars and the moon. I do want to encourage this- seek greater rest. Make time for genuine rest. Reading a book may not be as exciting as mountain biking, but it is more peaceful. Taking a nap may not be as entertaining a trip to the mall, but it is more restful. A simple game of backgammon may not give the adrenaline rush of a game of Mortal Combat with players around the world, but it will give you time to slow down and time with an actual person on the other side of the board. There is life in rest. Shalom.
