For many of us, summer can be a time when things slow down a little. Our students and educators especially have a time where there are fewer deadlines and assignments. This is the week that all begins to change: back to school! In his book, The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World, Andy Crouch talks about how much technology has changed our world. One of the biggest changes is the pace at which life moves.

 

“Almost all of human history was carried on at the speed of roughly three miles an hour—the speed of walking. The Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama provocatively called three miles an hour ‘the speed of God’ since it was the speed at which Jesus of Nazareth moved for almost his entire life. Before the invention of modern engines, any increase in speed above this natural threshold would have taken notable physical effort—the exertion of the sprinter or the endurance of the marathon runner, the counterpoised strength and balance of horse and rider, the sailor harnessing the wildness of the wind on the ocean.”

 

Three miles an hour—can you imagine?! How hard would it be to slow down to that pace? Everything in our world wants to move faster. God’s encouragement in scripture seems to point in the opposite direction: slow down.

As life gets hectic and the pace speeds up over the coming weeks, don’t forget to slow down. Take some time at “the speed of God” to see His presence more clearly in your life and our world.

 

Brian