THE RUTHLESS ELIMINATION OF HURRY summary

Chapter 1: Pastor John Mark Comer

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer What is in it for me? Learn to eliminate hurry from your life and savor every day. We all lack time. Even Bill Gates, for all his wealth and brilliance, simply cannot conjure up more hours in the day.

So, why do we spend so much of it on our smartphones or running around breathlessly, without stopping to think about what we are doing? Pastor John Mark Comer was a victim of what he calls the hurry disease. On paper, his life looked very successful and exciting because he was a busy man running a rapidly growing church. But inside, he was exhausted and anxious.

He realized that if he continued along the path he was on, he would become ever more successful and ever more miserable. He had to change how he lived fundamentally. But how? He realized that the answers he was looking for had been there all along in the Bible.

By following Jesus indeed, as much as in word, Comer learned how to slow down, savor the world around him, and start living a much more fulfilling life. In this summary, we will take a look at four simple but radical practices which helped Comer and which could help you as well. In this summary, you will learn why we have become so addicted to busyness and speed, how accepting our limitations can give us more possibilities, and why having more time will not make us less busy. This is The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer.

Chapter 1: Pastor John Mark Comer realized that being too busy was destroying his health, relationships, and his connection to his faith. Our lives are composed of a series of moments, but what if you are so busy and stressed that you cannot appreciate the moment you are in? Comer was very successful on paper. He had a rapidly growing church in Portland, Oregon.

Every year, a thousand new members joined, testimony to his powers as a pastor. He was married with kids and the author of several books. But underneath all these accomplishments, he felt a constant buzz of anxiety. He worked six days a week and taught up to six classes per day.

His relationships with his staff were tense because he snapped at them, his stress spilling over onto the people around him. At night, he would slump on the couch, mindlessly watching kung fu movies. He felt hollow and depleted like a ghost in his own life. On a plane ride home from London, he had a revelation.

He asked himself, who am I becoming? He realized that while he had grown a successful church, he had gone further away from his spiritual mission. He had become like the CEO of a large organization, stuck in meetings all day. But his passion lay in connecting with his congregants.

He plucked up all his courage and told the leadership of his church that he was resigning. Instead of overseeing all the operations of the megachurch, he wanted to follow his heart to Portland's inner city and become pastor of the lone, small church there. They accepted his resignation and he was free. For the first six months, he completely crashed because of all his exhaustion.

He also felt like he had to detox from the busy lifestyle he had been living, almost as if all the stress had been a drug. Gradually, he was able to recover emotionally and spiritually. He had time to play with his kids, walk the dog, and go to therapy. To an external observer, he had become much less successful.

From leader of a megachurch with many branches and thousands of congregants to pastor of a small, obscure church in Portland's inner city. However, he knew that, for him, real success meant having emotional and spiritual health and that he was on the right track.

Chapter 2: Hurry is a threat

Hurry is a threat to our emotional well-being and spiritual life. When someone asks you how you are doing, how often do you reply you are busy or stressed? It has become so normal to rush from task to task constantly that, often, we do not even notice that we are doing it or consider that life could be different. Being pathologically busy cuts across class lines and geographic locations.

You may be a wealthy CEO in India or a struggling single mom in Indiana, but chances are you will be crushed off your feet. But what is wrong with being busy? Well, there is a cost to your physical and emotional well-being. If you are religious, it can seriously interfere with your relationship to God too.

Carl Jung once commented that, hurry is not of the devil, hurry is the devil. It might seem a bit exaggerated to characterize hurry as being evil, but just look at the effect. Instead of having peaceful time for devotion and nurturing our faith, we are busy scrolling through Instagram feeds or frantically answering emails. Instead of spending Sundays in church or relaxing with loved ones, we are running like headless chickens from one obligation to another.

The most important religious value is love. However, love takes time to practice. Think of yourself when you are running late and trying to hurry your family out the door. Chances are you are critical, irritable, and snappish.

That is definitely not a loving state. On the flip side, slowness has gained a bad reputation. We use it as an insult to suggest that people are not smart or that the service in a restaurant is bad. However, slowing down can be just the thing we need to reconnect with our faith and live fulfilling lives.

After all, there is a reason why we are invited to walk with Jesus, not sprint with Jesus. Slowness allows us the time we need to relish our relationships, contemplate our actions, and connect with our spiritual mentors. So, next time you are sitting around a table laughing with your family, and your phone pings with another urgent email, recognize the interruption for what it really is. It is not only taking you away from your breakfast, but also from your spiritual life, and it can wait for later.