1 Thessalonians 4:11 make it your ambition to lead a quiet life…

I just finished listening to The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. I can not recommend it enough. It was so, so good and I am still trying to unpack it. I will probably buy it as a physical copy because while listening to books is great and I can do it while I work or clean or drive, sometimes you need to underline and take notes so that you can remember things and I need to do that with this book. It is one of those books that when you finish reading it, you feel like you need to go back to the beginning and read it again. It goes against every single thing we do in our daily lives. If you did all the things he said, you wouldn’t know who you were. You would not have a tv, read 100 books a year, barely touch your phone, walk slowly, spend time in silence, observe a weekly sabbath day, take long vacations, take deep breaths. You would learn to live like Jesus, listen for his Spirit, slow down and find peace for your soul. You would lead a quiet life.

Sound good? Yes. Unattainable? Sort of. I feel like it was an applicable time to read this book right as Lent is about to begin. Tomorrow I start reading 40 Days of Decrease by Alicia Britt Chole, another of my favorites. I read it every year. I have not yet determined what I will give up for lent, but I am convicted now, after reading J.M.’s book that I need it to be something that slows me down.

This is a short post, and I don’t have anything of great importance to tell you. Just… write back. What do you think about living a quiet life? What, if anything, are you giving up for Lent? Have you read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry? Let’s start a conversation about slowing down, breathing deep, being quiet.