For the Love of God, Slow Down
I was serving lunch at Applebee's the other day, and I had a couple sit in my section. They were probably in their 70's and it soon became apparent that the man was recovering from a stroke. He walked slowly and gingerly to his booth, talked slowly, very softly, and stuttered.
They ordered their drinks and I brought them out, then they said they needed some more time to look over the menu. I came back a few minutes later and he was still looking. I came back a third time and we was still studying his options. Finally, he ordered a chicken salad on the fourth visit.
When their food came out he took literally 30 minutes to eat his salad. And he was eating the entire time.
While they were eating, all around them suits having business lunches, and nurses on their lunch hour, and soccer moms with their kids hurried through their meals rushing in and out, sometimes in less than a half an hour. It was a sad scene.
Afterwards, as I was reflecting on the juxtaposition of the two extremes, the inevitable "what ifs" came to my mind. Then my attention turned to this man's wife. She appeared to be in perfectly good health. But I don't remember her moving any faster, being ready to order any sooner, or eating any quicker. She had slowed herself down to his pace--literally a snails pace. She was having a great time, it seemed. She did it joyfully & patiently. I don't ever remember her trying to rush, apologizing or trying to explain why they were moving so slow. She just had lunch with her husband.
What an amazing act of love. The dignity and respect she gave her husband over lunch by simply slowing down with him.
I thought about my little 21 month old daughter, Ella, and how often I hurry her along, tell her to move faster or sweep her up to get to wherever I am going. I get so frustrated and impatient and anxious. And she is doing absolutely nothing wrong. She could do no different. What if I just slowed down to her pace more often? I would get a lot less done, to be sure, but how much love could I show her by experiencing life with her at her speed?
Yesterday I was on a walk with her out at Turk Lake and caught myself hurrying her along. So I slowed down. We walked slow, uncomfortably slow for me. But Ella had a ball, she discovered dandelions and acorns for the first time, saw swans and waved "hi" to people and talked to her daddy about who knows what. It took us about 45 minutes to go about a half a mile, but my daughter knew that her daddy loved her, that I was willing to live in her world.
It is going to be a challenge to make this a lifestyle change, I have failed many times already with Ella, but I am already thinking through what kind of effects this would have on my other relationships, ministry, church, etc. And the whole time I feel like Jesus is saying, "Don't move too fast for the 'least of these.'"
They ordered their drinks and I brought them out, then they said they needed some more time to look over the menu. I came back a few minutes later and he was still looking. I came back a third time and we was still studying his options. Finally, he ordered a chicken salad on the fourth visit.
When their food came out he took literally 30 minutes to eat his salad. And he was eating the entire time.
While they were eating, all around them suits having business lunches, and nurses on their lunch hour, and soccer moms with their kids hurried through their meals rushing in and out, sometimes in less than a half an hour. It was a sad scene.
Afterwards, as I was reflecting on the juxtaposition of the two extremes, the inevitable "what ifs" came to my mind. Then my attention turned to this man's wife. She appeared to be in perfectly good health. But I don't remember her moving any faster, being ready to order any sooner, or eating any quicker. She had slowed herself down to his pace--literally a snails pace. She was having a great time, it seemed. She did it joyfully & patiently. I don't ever remember her trying to rush, apologizing or trying to explain why they were moving so slow. She just had lunch with her husband.
What an amazing act of love. The dignity and respect she gave her husband over lunch by simply slowing down with him.
I thought about my little 21 month old daughter, Ella, and how often I hurry her along, tell her to move faster or sweep her up to get to wherever I am going. I get so frustrated and impatient and anxious. And she is doing absolutely nothing wrong. She could do no different. What if I just slowed down to her pace more often? I would get a lot less done, to be sure, but how much love could I show her by experiencing life with her at her speed?
Yesterday I was on a walk with her out at Turk Lake and caught myself hurrying her along. So I slowed down. We walked slow, uncomfortably slow for me. But Ella had a ball, she discovered dandelions and acorns for the first time, saw swans and waved "hi" to people and talked to her daddy about who knows what. It took us about 45 minutes to go about a half a mile, but my daughter knew that her daddy loved her, that I was willing to live in her world.
It is going to be a challenge to make this a lifestyle change, I have failed many times already with Ella, but I am already thinking through what kind of effects this would have on my other relationships, ministry, church, etc. And the whole time I feel like Jesus is saying, "Don't move too fast for the 'least of these.'"
posted by ben price at 1:10 AM
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