I was thinking about the phenomena which most of us
experience as we grow older concerning the relative speed of time. As we age time seems to go faster. Given the rapid speed of change in our
culture these days, the perception of time’s speed is accentuated. I marvel at the changes that today’s nonagenarians
have witnessed and wonder how they maintain a grip on life. Changes in technology, communications, and
media in the past decade alone are staggering.
How does one keep up?
Which begs the question:
Does one have to? Keep up, I
mean. Do we have to try to keep going at
the speed of our culture or is there an alternative? I remember a trip I made to Brazil several
years ago and my tour guide’s description of the relative sense of time
experienced in the different regions of the country. He mentioned Carioca time, a more relaxed
sense of schedules lived out by the citizens of Rio as compared to their more
driven counterparts further south.
Even in my home state of North Carolina there is a different
approach to time between those who live in cities and those in the
country. In Charlotte you might hear, “Time
is money,” while in some remote corner of the mountains “There’s always time
for fishing,” may be a more common sentiment.
I’d like to propose that one need not feel pressed by those
around us to keep up with their pace. In
Judeo-Christian circles we have a tradition of Sabbath which engages us not
only to slow down but to stop what we’re doing altogether for a day, and if,
for a day, why not for moments in every other day? Who needs to go at the speed of light? Why not choose the speed of life, which I
submit is slow enough to smell the roses along the way?
It takes great concentration and discipline to not be caught
up in the current of culture. And to go
in the opposite direction may require mutual support from a community that is
willing to be counter-cultural along with us.
I think there is more life to be gained from slowing down, lingering
over coffee, taking a leisurely stroll through the neighborhood, than from the
frantic rush in which we often get caught up.
Do we really need it yesterday?
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