The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world

Chapter 7 introduces the first of four practices of Jesus which Comer presents in Part 3: silence and solitude, Sabbath, simplicity, and habits of slowing down. Comer begins by illustrating the dramatic changes in contemporary society within the previous 30 years, during which time people went from a culture in which waiting in silence (with the concomitant boredom) was a real part of everyday experience, to a culture in which media entertainment is so pervasive and so accessible that there are no moments left in which silent waiting is required—there are always the infinite distractions of a smartphone at hand. While effacing boredom from our lives might not sound so bad at first, Comer argues that the ability to fill every moment with distraction is having a dangerous effect: “[T]his new normal of hurried digital distraction is robbing us of the ability to be present” (121).

Comer examines several of the gospel stories about Jesus, noting in particular the way that he often retreated out to the eremos (variously translated as “wilderness,” “deserted place,” or—Comer’s favorite—“a quiet place”) to spend time alone and pray. The striking feature of these stories is that Jesus appears to withdraw into quiet places even more frequently when circumstances in his life are the busiest, which suggests that what we need in the midst of busyness is not more time for more tasks, but more time to rest and recharge in the presence of God to be fully present for the tasks we have.

This practice of withdrawing, often called “silence and solitude” in the Christian literature on spiritual disciplines, requires both an internal and external silence: both the absence of a noisy environment and the pursuit of an inward stillness from the turmoil of our own thoughts. This is best found in solitude, in finding times and places to be alone from others, but this aloneness is really just an entry into a deeper level of community, as we learn to be present with God: “In solitude we’re anything but alone. In fact, that’s where many of us feel most in connection to God” (134). The danger of not following Jesus’s model of silence and solitude is that we will feel more distant from God, thus less able to grow in our spiritual lives, and thus less able to be fully present in other dimensions of our lives as well. Comer presents his readers with two options: Relearn the ancient practices of Jesus’s way or go on with our harried, frenetic pace of life, leading to exhaustion and discontent.

In Part 3, Comer begins to weave together all three of his major themes. He begins Chapter 7 with another look at The Dangers of a Hurried Lifestyle, taking special note of how the infinite distractions of digital entertainment prevent us from learning to rest and to seek God’s presence in our lives. He then ties this with the second theme, Apprenticeship to Jesus, by studying Jesus’s life and seeking to apply the pattern of his practices onto our own lives. In this case, the practice in question is Jesus’s habit of going out into places of solitude for frequent prayer, particularly in seasons of busyness. To be a true apprentice of the way of Jesus, one has to find ways to follow this aspect of Jesus’s lifestyle, and Comer suggests that doing so will expand our abilities to experience the third major theme of the book, that of The Importance of Living in the Present Moment. By cultivating the habits of silence and solitude, we are then able to rest and grow spiritually, enabling us to be present with God in that moment and to be more fully present in our relationships and tasks at other moments.