I mean it.  Slow down.  Late modern life has afflicted almost all of us with the disease of haste and it is robbing us of precious time.  We think we save it by hurrying, but the opposite is the case.  There really is something to that old saying, "The hurryer I go, the behinder I get."  And with the stolen time go stolen opportunities to grow into the joy that only God can give. 

For most Americans, it's the busiest time of the year.  To slow down now seems impossible and my plea ridiculous, but God often works this way, contrary to our inclinations (and our caving in to the fatalism of the season) in order to give us something we desperately need.  

Of late I have become steadily more aware of the impatience that pushes me.  (I'm sure several of my friends and certainly my wife are saying "Well, duh!")  I need to get to the end of this book so that I can get on to the next book!  I need to finish this task so that I can...