Hurry

Dear son,

I’d like to live in a world without rushing. Sometimes I get the impression that the words we use most in our day-to-day are ‘hurry up’, or rather, ‘eat up’, or ‘quick’, or ‘come on’, or ‘in a second’. Expressions that, basically, all mean the same thing. Rushing.

The worst moments of the day can be the ten minutes before heading out the door to go to school, church or any other appointment. For some reason, it’s in those final few minutes that we realise we’ve forgotten something, haven’t prepared properly, haven’t timed things right, or that it’s later than we thought. The worst thing is that the more we rush and the more complicated things get, the less efficient we become, which only makes us more irritable. We get stressed, we feel overwhelmed, and we end up leaving in a bad mood.

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We live in a society shaped by ‘chronos’, the time measured by the clock. Furthermore, it seems that our society also revolves around early risers and well-defined rhythms. This last point, in particular, is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, is God not a God of order?

At some point, you’ll be able not only to understand, but also to manage your time effectively. In fact, it’ll be essential! If you don’t, you might turn up late for work because you’ve overslept, and if that happens several times, you could get sacked. Or your food might burn because you’ve forgotten to set the timer and keep an eye on it. Or you might forget to pick the children up from school, which would cause them a great deal of distress.

However, I hope even more that you will understand and practise ‘kairos’ – that is, God’s timing. When we learn to live in this kairos, we are attentive to the Spirit and its promptings; we open our eyes and look around us; we are able to choose what is best in every circumstance and make the most of opportunities. If you do this, you will notice a sad friend and seize the opportunity to spend some time with them, even if this delays your return home; you will get up before the alarm goes off, if you are awake, to spend a little more time with God; you will be able to avoid making hasty decisions, but instead wait in prayer.

You will see that the best thing is that practising in the ‘kairos’ moment will allow you to live a more peaceful life, marked by God’s rhythms rather than those of humans. No one is calling you to follow the rhythms of this world; remember that these are characterised by individualism, competitiveness, materialism and consumerism. May God guide your sacrifices, decisions, choices and priorities so that you may live a fulfilling life, full of peace and without haste.

I love you,

Mamá

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