The Urgent vs. The Important

For a Bible Study at church I had to read the article, Tyranny of the Urgent, by Charles E. Hummel.

The article, written in 1967, is surprisingly relevant today. I guess the things I struggle with aren't really new, but are the same things people throughout history has been challenged by.

Here are a couple of things that stood out to me.

~Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important.

~ Yet on the last night, with many useful tasks undone and urgent human needs unmet, the Lord had peace, He knew he had finished God's work.

~Man is never so truly personal as when he is living in complete dependence upon God.

This article reminded me of a book I've posted about before,
Invitation to Silence and Solitude. I'd love to tell you that I practice solitude on a daily basis, but it would be a lie. Regularly I let the urgent, get in the way of what I know to be important. But I am continuing to seek the quiet and peace which can only come from simply being with God.

I've included a couple of quotes to encourage you.

~ When we stop the music of our life to enter into solitude, we sit down right where we are at that moment, and that's where we meet God. We meet God in our present delight or our present sadness. We meet God in the tears of our life or the laughter of our life. We meet God in our most unnerving questions or the answers we are celebrating. No matter where we are on any given day, when the music stops and everything gets quiet, we sit down right where we are and allow ourselves to be there with him.

In a world where being anything other than "ok", is really not ok, I long to be with my God who will meet me anywhere.

~ Solitude eventually offers a quiet gift of grace, a gift that comes whenever we are able to face ourselves honestly; the gift of acceptance, of compassion, for who we are. As we allow ourselves to be known in solitude, we discover that we are known by love. Beyond the pain of self-discovery there is a love that does not condemn us but calls us to itself. This love receives us as we are. - Parker Palmer

***If you'd like to red the whole article, please click on the title above.