start slow

I chose to sit in the dark. Sometimes darkness is not a bad thing. It slows things down. In the evening after the sun sets and the sky darkens, your body prepares for sleep. For rest. It slows down.

So I chose to sit in the dark. To listen to the rain. To start slow. Not frantic, hurried or worried about the list and the little hours to complete it. I chose to be intentional with these first few moments. To be thoughtful. To ask God what I need to see.

Jesus wasn’t frantic. In fact I don’t recall a single passage where he runs. More often it feels like he’s trying to get everyone around him to slow down to just the right pace.

And a moment of regret sets in. This morning at the gym, as I was leaving in too much of a hurry for no good reason at all, a woman said hello. She tried to ask more, to talk, and I rushed by with a loud hi, never slowing to engage… to ask… In that moment of selfishness I communicated to this beautiful woman that my destination was more important than a moment of friendship with her.

I pray there is a next time. That I can invite her to breakfast. That I don’t miss the next opportunity to be God’s hands, and feet, and listening ears. I don’t want to miss the chance to bring a little bit of heaven to earth for someone else.

*inspired by Matthew 6:10 “…your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”