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Available
Call number
Description
Christian Nonfiction. Religion & Spirituality. Nonfiction. HTML:ECPA BESTSELLER �?� A compelling emotional and spiritual case against hurry and in favor of a slower, simpler way of life �??As someone all too familiar with �??hurry sickness,�?? I desperately needed this book.�?��??Scott Harrison, New York Times best-selling author of Thirst �??Who am I becoming?�?� That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren�??t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words: �??Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.�?� It wasn�??t the response he expected, but it was�??and continues to be�??the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil. Within the pages of this book, you�??ll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spirit… (more)
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Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It's Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally Immature by Peter Scazzero
Publication
WaterBrook (2019), 304 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member wilsonknut
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer is a combination of a book on slowing down and a book on the spiritual disciplines. Comer calls them spiritual practices. “Discipline” is an offensive word today. Of course, the spiritual disciplines force us to slow down, so the combination
Comer bases his premise on Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30. “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus calls the weary and burdened and promises them rest. How do they get it? Take up His yoke and learn from Him. Comer writes:
What if the secret to a happy life—and it is a secret, an open one but a secret nonetheless; how else do so few people know it?—what is the secret isn’t “out there” but much closer to home? What if all you had to do was slow down long enough for the merry-go-round blur of life to come into focus? What if the secret to the life we crave is actually easy?
I’ll admit as I read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry I thought to myself, “This is all great stuff, but I’m really not that busy. Life is pretty relaxed.” Funny how God works. Almost immediately after finishing the book I was asked to teach two classes, coach my son’s team which practices 4 days a week, and take care of the lines on the team’s field, all in addition to my full time job. My schedule is now full. There are moments where I have this impending sense of not having enough time to get it all done. I keep coming back to Comer’s book and the spiritual practices he lays out for our hyper world.
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry clearly lays out our modern problem using a variety of sources. The quotes alone are brilliant and pointed me to great sources for additional reading. The book lays the groundwork for the solution based on the way of Jesus, and then offers four practices to help unhurry your life. Comer’s writing is smart and engaging. He says he wants you to feel like you’re having a conversation with him over coffee. I think he succeeds. I highly recommend this one.
John Mark Comer also cohosts the This Cultural Moment podcast, which is very smart and helpful. Check it out.
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works well. Western culture in particular loves the idea that the secret to life is ambition, assertiveness, busyness, multitasking, and constant hustling. There’s no time to sleep or rest. However, the truth is we live in a culture of low-grade exhaustion and anxiety. Something is missing, and no matter how hard we hustle, we can’t quite grasp that elusive happiness hustling and grinding promises. That’s where the spiritual practices come in. Comer calls them “the way of Jesus.”Comer bases his premise on Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30. “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus calls the weary and burdened and promises them rest. How do they get it? Take up His yoke and learn from Him. Comer writes:
What if the secret to a happy life—and it is a secret, an open one but a secret nonetheless; how else do so few people know it?—what is the secret isn’t “out there” but much closer to home? What if all you had to do was slow down long enough for the merry-go-round blur of life to come into focus? What if the secret to the life we crave is actually easy?
I’ll admit as I read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry I thought to myself, “This is all great stuff, but I’m really not that busy. Life is pretty relaxed.” Funny how God works. Almost immediately after finishing the book I was asked to teach two classes, coach my son’s team which practices 4 days a week, and take care of the lines on the team’s field, all in addition to my full time job. My schedule is now full. There are moments where I have this impending sense of not having enough time to get it all done. I keep coming back to Comer’s book and the spiritual practices he lays out for our hyper world.
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry clearly lays out our modern problem using a variety of sources. The quotes alone are brilliant and pointed me to great sources for additional reading. The book lays the groundwork for the solution based on the way of Jesus, and then offers four practices to help unhurry your life. Comer’s writing is smart and engaging. He says he wants you to feel like you’re having a conversation with him over coffee. I think he succeeds. I highly recommend this one.
John Mark Comer also cohosts the This Cultural Moment podcast, which is very smart and helpful. Check it out.
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LibraryThing member AlisonY
Terrible for me to say as a regular church goer, but I'm not one for normally picking up a religious book as my reading book of choice.
Our minister sent me this book recently in thanks for something I've been helping the church out with (the joy of receiving an unexpected book gift through the
Now that I've read the whole thing, I actually got a lot out of it. Even if you're not remotely religious, I think Comer gives a lot to think about around how increasingly busy and exhausting life has become. We're all hurrying to try to do more and to obtain more, and in doing so are often increasingly worn out, cross and far from our best version of ourselves. We've no time for ourselves, little quality time for our loved ones, and not much time (for those who are Christian) for God.
Comer puts forward a good case for reclaiming the Sabbath as a day of rest and... wait for it... enjoyment! This seemed so far from my 1970s upbringing in which the Sabbath felt like it was supposed to be almost a day of drudgery. In Comer's head, the Sabbath - if you plan it properly - should be the best day of the week, the one to really look forward to with all chores and work shelved and time with family, friends and God prioritised, doing things that remind us of just how good our lives really are (including wine - hurrah!).
In all, as the title says, this is a book challenging us to be ruthless about eliminating hurry from our lives, and not just hurry but also the exhausting desire to always be striving to obtain more things rather than learning to live much more happily with less. I do get what he means by that - when we go on holiday I often muse how we can be happily sufficient for a couple of weeks with just what we've been able to carry in a suitcase, and I'm quite sure there is a lightness to be had from purging one's house of all the crap that we accumulate over the years. But... easier said than done.
Cromer is a pastor so of course there is a religious subtext to the book, but this was written in a really fresh way which gave me plenty of food for thought about how I could do much better on all fronts. I liked the chatty style - it felt non-judgmental and above all modern and relevant. Cromer's a young guy and he gets that times have changed since the biblical Middle East, so his arguments for slowing down were in the context of the reality of the world we now live in.
4 stars - mindfulness for the time-drained and a good 'entry book' for those curious about (re)finding God in the modern world.
Our minister sent me this book recently in thanks for something I've been helping the church out with (the joy of receiving an unexpected book gift through the
Show More
post!), and when I had a quick flick through it I was pleasantly surprised at the style - it felt young, relevant and above all not remotely preachy.Now that I've read the whole thing, I actually got a lot out of it. Even if you're not remotely religious, I think Comer gives a lot to think about around how increasingly busy and exhausting life has become. We're all hurrying to try to do more and to obtain more, and in doing so are often increasingly worn out, cross and far from our best version of ourselves. We've no time for ourselves, little quality time for our loved ones, and not much time (for those who are Christian) for God.
Comer puts forward a good case for reclaiming the Sabbath as a day of rest and... wait for it... enjoyment! This seemed so far from my 1970s upbringing in which the Sabbath felt like it was supposed to be almost a day of drudgery. In Comer's head, the Sabbath - if you plan it properly - should be the best day of the week, the one to really look forward to with all chores and work shelved and time with family, friends and God prioritised, doing things that remind us of just how good our lives really are (including wine - hurrah!).
In all, as the title says, this is a book challenging us to be ruthless about eliminating hurry from our lives, and not just hurry but also the exhausting desire to always be striving to obtain more things rather than learning to live much more happily with less. I do get what he means by that - when we go on holiday I often muse how we can be happily sufficient for a couple of weeks with just what we've been able to carry in a suitcase, and I'm quite sure there is a lightness to be had from purging one's house of all the crap that we accumulate over the years. But... easier said than done.
Cromer is a pastor so of course there is a religious subtext to the book, but this was written in a really fresh way which gave me plenty of food for thought about how I could do much better on all fronts. I liked the chatty style - it felt non-judgmental and above all modern and relevant. Cromer's a young guy and he gets that times have changed since the biblical Middle East, so his arguments for slowing down were in the context of the reality of the world we now live in.
4 stars - mindfulness for the time-drained and a good 'entry book' for those curious about (re)finding God in the modern world.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SeanKidd
An excellent book expounding on Dallas Willard's philosophy of slowing. Comer gives very practical examples of four main spiritual disciplines: Silence/Solitude, Sabbath, Slowing, and Simplicity.
LibraryThing member wvlibrarydude
John Mark Comer wrote a simple book on addressing the issue of hurry and its many facets in our lives, and how that is directly in conflict with the life that Jesus would have us follow if we are to walk in His steps. Comer emphasizes the need to look at the actual life of Jesus (how he took time
The second part focuses on the four areas that he believes need to be addressed: Silence & Solitude, Sabbath, Simplicity, and Slowing. Most of the things he brings up are not exactly new, but the combined focus on the different areas with practical advice is helpful to allow the reader to examine their own life and figure out ways to put these practices into their lives to walk closer to Jesus. While many of his practical ideas may not work for me (already implementing or disagree with my life style), there is wisdom in what the practical ideas are trying to address in regards to the four areas of focus.
Comer definitely refers to Dallas Willard and John Ortberg enough that I will have to dive into their works.
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for solitude, prayer, and slowing down to address the needs before him. The second part focuses on the four areas that he believes need to be addressed: Silence & Solitude, Sabbath, Simplicity, and Slowing. Most of the things he brings up are not exactly new, but the combined focus on the different areas with practical advice is helpful to allow the reader to examine their own life and figure out ways to put these practices into their lives to walk closer to Jesus. While many of his practical ideas may not work for me (already implementing or disagree with my life style), there is wisdom in what the practical ideas are trying to address in regards to the four areas of focus.
Comer definitely refers to Dallas Willard and John Ortberg enough that I will have to dive into their works.
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Original language
English
Original publication date
2019-10-29
Physical description
304 p.; 8.31 inches
ISBN
0525653090 / 9780525653097