Faster World, Emptier Soul...
One of Starbuck's new strategies is to put as many drive through locations as possible in every major metropolitan area in the United States. About six months ago, one opened up three blocks from my house. Just last Thursday, I paid it a friendly visit. The only problem was that the drive through line was way too long. After quickly calculating that it would have taken more than 4 minutes, I decided to park, and place my order the old fashioned way, the way God intended it: by getting out of my vehicle. After grabbing my extremely hot beverage, I walked out to my car, and before getting in, the though hit me: "Did I actually save time by walking in? I probably didn't!"
That kind of thinking is shrinking my soul.
Think about it: How many things can we simply order up with the ease of a drive through, the click of a mouse, or the dialing of a phone? And if it takes longer than 1.5 minutes to "complete" our order, we get frustrated. Research companies get paid massive amounts of money to see just how patient web surfers will be; if it takes any more than six clicks to navigate around a page, we're out. If it takes longer than 4 seconds for a page to load, we're out. We simply cannot wait. And it's killing us.
This impatience is pandemic: If I'm behind someone who is executing a right turn too slowly, there is a little part of me that is frustrated. If someone is taking too long to "get to the point" of their story, I am frustrated. If I pick the "slow" line in the grocery store, it drives me crazy. I am being formed into a person that has to have what he wants when he wants it. I wonder where I got that idea (hmmm....any commercials come to mind)?
The problem is that I begin to see people as a means to achieving my end: they exist to give me what I want. If you think I'm too cyncial, or that I'm exaggerating, keep a journal for a week and record how many times you experience something like what I described in the previous paragraphs. We have a problem.
How do we fight this?
That kind of thinking is shrinking my soul.
Think about it: How many things can we simply order up with the ease of a drive through, the click of a mouse, or the dialing of a phone? And if it takes longer than 1.5 minutes to "complete" our order, we get frustrated. Research companies get paid massive amounts of money to see just how patient web surfers will be; if it takes any more than six clicks to navigate around a page, we're out. If it takes longer than 4 seconds for a page to load, we're out. We simply cannot wait. And it's killing us.
This impatience is pandemic: If I'm behind someone who is executing a right turn too slowly, there is a little part of me that is frustrated. If someone is taking too long to "get to the point" of their story, I am frustrated. If I pick the "slow" line in the grocery store, it drives me crazy. I am being formed into a person that has to have what he wants when he wants it. I wonder where I got that idea (hmmm....any commercials come to mind)?
The problem is that I begin to see people as a means to achieving my end: they exist to give me what I want. If you think I'm too cyncial, or that I'm exaggerating, keep a journal for a week and record how many times you experience something like what I described in the previous paragraphs. We have a problem.
How do we fight this?
posted by Steve W. at 2:39 PM
4 Comments:
Steve, I really like your questions. I think the number one thing we can do to fight this is simply follow one of God's most simple, love-filled, and serious commandments - keep the Sabbath holy. Perhaps you already do this and it won't help you. But for me, I am so disobedient in this area. I don't take 1 day a week to devote completely to unproductivity in anything, even ministry stuff, and allow myself to rest in the presence of Jesus. When I do, it does so much for my soul. My focus for the following six days becomes so much more clear. What matters most in reality actually matters most in my reality. The 8 minute wait for coffee, getting stuck in the slow line in the grocery store, hitting every red light, screwing up and wasting time, the stories of the prolix, and stuff like that just seem not to matter a whole lot. Again though, I don't keep the Sabbath enough. And I don't take time in my day enough to rest in God's presence and allow His reality to seep into my mind, transforming the very person I am. If I did though... I think that might be the answer.
Very Kantian, Steve (Kant believed that it was wrong to look at human beings merely as instruments or means).
Hmm... if we treat others merely as means, then what does that say about our respect for them as human beings? (I did not intend for that to rhyme-ish). I would say that we fight it by looking at them as Jesus would. Not sure if that's all that we'd do, but it's a start.
I agree - I can't stand it when people take forever to get to the point. Nor do I like waiting too long for things - I'm very busy!
miss you, dude.
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