Think back to where you were a month ago, and where you thought you were going to be this week and what you thought you were going to be doing. Now think about where you are and what you have been doing instead.
The pace of change over the past two weeks—and the pace of our collective and individual adaption to change—has been remarkable. It should come as no surprise if, suddenly, we feel tired in our bones from the work it took to adapt.
Yesterday, March 25th, marked the birthday of Flannery O’Connor, who once said:
And today, March 26th, marks the birthday of Robert Frost, who once said:
There’s absolutely no reason for being rushed along with the rush.
Everybody should be free to be very slow.
I never know when I’m wasting time.
What needs to go fast right now? What needs to go slow? These are questions we addressed to several groups in the months before any of us knew the term “Covid-19.” But they have even more relevance now (in fact, they were raised by thoughtful participants in our webinar yesterday).
Pace – slow or fast – is a type of spiritual discipline. Often, in the best of times, we speed up when we should probably go slow, and we slow down (especially on a church board) where we may need to go faster.
Can you create some slow time in your board and committee meetings right now, that allows people to relax and breathe?
Wisdom and discernment often start just there.
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