Is the world speeding up? In some ways, we would say that the question is preposterous. The Earth continues to spin on its axis at the speed of 460 meters per second (at the equator). But perhaps the speed of the earth is a bigger question than how fast we are spinning or going around the sun.
Throughout the modern period, you could say that our days have gotten shorter. That doesn’t mean that we have less than 24 hours (except for certain day light savings time adjustments), but it means that we are stuck in a bind with what we can do with our time. Increasingly, our societal timekeeper has been the frantic pace of Silicon Valley’s innovations. The Internet promised us that we could get more done in less time, and it delivered. However, the delivery was that of a Trojan horse.
As we got less done in more time, our clocks had to adjust to the speed. We found ourselves in a jetlag situation, feeling like it is the end of the day but being told that there are more hours of work to do. Suddenly we feel in our jobs and lives what Scripture has been telling us all along: We can’t do enough in time. We feel like we have a 250 page paper due in 5 minutes. Our righteousness is incomplete.
To this, God gives us counterintuitive commands: “Be still and know that I am God.” “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Stop. Rest. Barricade the door. Listen for grace. You can’t do enough or do it before the deadline. That is ok. You have been saved. The world may be speeding up, but the God of that world still stands outside of it and He invites you into an eternity (a slow one?) with Him.
(Enjoyed this newsletter? Then you might enjoy “The Congregation in a Secular Age” by Lutheran theologian Andrew Root.)