“Our souls need transition time. Especially in this world. We still find God in the transitions. Notice that in the Gospels, it was during those transition times the disciples got to have Jesus to themselves; the intimacy was in those moments. . . . there is a sweetness to downtime, even if it is brief. we can find more of God there.”- John Eldredge
John Eldredge concludes Chapter 6 of Get Your Life Back as he reminds us that technology’s assault on our attention robs us of ordinary transition spaces and opportunities. Hence, John adds, when we get downtime, it puzzles us. We don’t know how to handle it.
Furthermore, the author believes God often provides the opportunity for transition. Instead, we view these situations as disappointments, hassles, or setbacks. In truth, God wants to slow us down for the sake of our souls.
As a result, John underscores, we need to loosen our grip on efficiency. Because that grip often drives us to remove all margin from our lives. Writing in The Awakened Heart, Gerald G. May contrasts the concepts of efficiency and love:
“Efficiency is the ‘how’ of life: how we meet and handle the demands of daily living, how we survive, grow, and create, how we deal with stress, how effective we are in our functional roles and activities. In contrast, love is the ‘why’ of life; why we are functioning at all, what we want to be efficient for. . . .
Love should come first; it should be the beginning of and the reason for everything. Efficiency should be the ‘how’ love expresses it’ s ‘why.’ But it gets mixed up so easily.”
Above all, John exhorts, when hard stuff like delays or setbacks hit, choose to practice kindness. Begin with simple tasks as you transition back.
Today’s question: How do you use transition time to practice kindness to your soul? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “An artificial world numbs the soul”
