In the classic spiritual book, Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster writes this: 

“In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds.  If he (sic) can keep us engaged in “muchness” and manyness” he will rest satisfied.  Psychiatrist Carl Jung once remarked, “Hurry is not of the Devil; it is the Devil.”  

As we reflect on the line from last Sunday, “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” we might remember the translation we read from Matthew’s Gospel in the first week that translates this line to read, “And don’t lead us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”  Are you tempted to live into a life of noise, hurry and crowds?  How is the practice of prayer helping to slow you down throughout your day to stop, take a breath and reconnect with your Creator?

Foster first wrote his line in 1978 and the temptations of muchness and manyness, noise and hurry are perhaps even more significant in 2022.  We too often wear our “busyness” as a badge of honor.  How can you hear the perhaps familiar words of the Psalms,  “Be still and know that I am God.”