Unity Daily Word for July 7, 2014, states: “I live in an orderly universe where seasons change and new life emerges at the appointed time, where flowers bloom and apples ripen as designed and where I accomplish what is mine to do easily and naturally. I need only look to nature for assurance that there is ‘a time for every purpose under heaven.’  (Ecclesiastes 3:1)  In the summer, leaves do not rush to turn to gold and fruit does not hurry to fall from the tree. Nature is in concert with the rhythm of life. Pacing myself, I willingly flow with life, and I find peace.  I am not rushed. I meet my goals and maintain my health. I stay mindful of what is important to me and seek balance in all endeavors. With gratitude, I am fully present to this moment in time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:17 says: “For He has appointed a time for every matter and for every work.”)

In this harried world, with matters pressing on us every minute of every day, how can we begin to live as though the above words are true? Choices, my friends, choices.

What are you giving your attention to? Can you remember the last time you were truly at rest in your heart and mind? I would be willing to bet that you may not be able to remember such a time unless you reach far back in the past. If you can remember a recent occurrence, kudos to you!

In William George Jordan’s “The Majesty of Calmness,” he denotes the difference between haste and hurry:

“Nature is very un-American. Nature never hurries. Every phase of her working shows plan, calmness, reliability, and the absence of hurry. Hurry always implies lack of definite method, confusion, impatience of slow growth. The Tower of Babel, the world’s first skyscraper, was a failure because of hurry. The workers mistook their arrogant ambition for inspiration. They had too many builders — and no architect. They thought to make up the lack of a head by a superfluity of hands. This is a characteristic of Hurry. It seeks ever to make energy a substitute for a clearly defined plan. The result is ever as hopeless as trying to transform a hobby horse into a real steed by brisk riding.

Hurry is a counterfeit of haste. Haste has an ideal, a distinct aim to be realized by the quickest, direct methods. Haste has a single compass upon which it relies for direction and in harmony with which its course is determined. Hurry says: ‘I must move faster. I will get three compasses; I will have them different; I will be guided by all of them. One of them will probably be right.’ Hurry never realizes that slow, careful foundation work is the quickest in the end.

Hurry is the deathblow to calmness, to dignity, to poise. The old-time courtesy went out when the new-time hurry came in. Hurry is the father of dyspepsia. In the rush of our national life, the bolting of food has become a national vice. The words ‘Quick Lunches’ might properly be placed on thousands of headstones in our cemeteries…His self-respecting stomach rebels, and expresses its indignation by indigestion. Then man has to go through life with a little bottle of pepsin tablets in his vest pocket. He is but another victim to this craze for speed. Hurry means the breakdown of the nerves. It is the royal road to nervous prostration.”

So I ask you, would you rather participate in haste or hurry? It really is up to you to make this choice. Many days seem like we are a gerbil in a cage, just going round and round, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. We get up, do what we have to do to get to work, work, travel when we must, come home, and then collapse on the couch till it is time to turn off the TV and go to bed…just so we can get up the next day and do it again. Many have very long commutes, whether it be by car, plane, bus, train, subway, or taxi. It all takes time, doesn’t it?

It seems most strange to me that many long years ago, many people worked very hard to give us a 40-hour workweek. But now, with the many ways we can bring our work with us wherever we go, many people work a lot more hours a week than 40. Some work places have actually installed beds! How many people have been waiting for a doctor appointment and can watch someone pace back and forth with a phone in the ear? Or perhaps it is someone using a smartphone, doing business, texting, talking, and finally going up to the desk to change the appointment to another day because this person could not wait any longer…and two seconds after this person leaves, the name gets called to go back? These are but two examples of how busy life can become. Have you ever been in a restaurant and watch two people texting at a table — only to find out that they are actually speaking to each other on their phones? Electronic gadgets are wonderful inventions, and they become more wonderful each day. My question to you is this: Are you using your gadgets to enhance communications, making great use of your time? Or is it just another way to hurry through your day? Are you compelled to answer your phone when it rings? Do you even try to text and drive at the same time? Have you watched someone in a near accident because they had a phone up to the ear instead of a Bluetooth or audio connection? Is the need for speed in our world of communications that important? Only you can make these choices. In short, your upset stomach may be as much from the pace you are moving as it is from the food you ate, far too quickly.

Stress is a known factor in every day. Many different types appear in very recognizable forms, but there are others that are not so easily understood or comprehended. These all complicate the difference between haste and hurry…for one has a plan and the other has none. Do you see the truth in this?

Life should be lived from the inside to the outside, not vice versa. Yet I see so much of the latter present in everyday situations. Life seems out of control, doesn’t it? You are like a marionette with so many strings tied to you that your daily dance is faster than the one minute waltz played in 30 seconds! How do you get your breath? Stop and take one — a very long one. Take five minutes for yourself, and get off the merry-go-round. Then, when you get back on, take a plan with you and use it. It will change your life from hurry to haste, guaranteed!

Here is a unique idea: If you need a little more time, give it to yourself! It is yours from the minute you wake up until you close your eyes that night. Choose wisely how you use it!

John F. Kennedy stated: “We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.”

Inscription on an Ancient Sun Dial:

“Time was is past — thou canst it not recall.

Time is thou hast — employ thy portion small.

Time future is not, and may never be.

Time present is the only Time for thee!”

God’s blessings upon your journey!

Clown on Hobby Horse, Briskly Riding!