I want to tell you how my morning began. . . The alarm on my phone went off an hour later than it should have. While that was troublesome, it did not signal the start to a frustratingly-difficult morning. Instead, Jennifer and I attacked the morning as we normally might. . . but just a bit faster. And we made it! After she went off to work, I settled into my normal morning routine.
Made a cup of coffee. I finished Jennifer’s cup while mine was brewing. Chatted with Emma before she caught the bus about homework. I worked out and then headed for the shower. All the normal things I do on a normal morning.
As I ’snapped’ my Apple Watch around my wrist, I remembered that I wanted to check and see what new features came with the software download from the previous night on my watch. I looked through the list, and found one that caught my eye. Apple now has a feature on its watches that, in a covid-19 world, notifies you when you have washed your hands for a full 20 seconds. It's a basic countdown feature. As you know the CDC recommends washing your hands in warm water for 20 seconds as a helpful preventative practice in this time. Interestingly enough, Apple uses both the motion of your hands and the microphone on the watch (it actually hears the water and once it hears that, the watch notices that your hands are ‘behaving’ like you are washing them. Then the countdown starts). So I enabled the ‘hand washing’ feature and continued my day. . .
Things began to get interesting after that.
As I shaved, my watch heard the water, and noticed how I moved my hands to clean the blade off, and you guessed it, started counting down. Ok, I played along. . ha ha. ha. Hands under the water for 20 seconds. I fixed my hair and rinsed off my hands. . . yep, Apple Watch reminded me to use 20 seconds. I gave it a sideways glance but relented. 20 more seconds under the warm water. Some of the muffin I was eating stuck to my fingers. So a quick ‘dab’ off in the water was needed. . . Nope! 20 more seconds washing my hands. . . I thought, ’this is getting a bit irritating.”
Tooth brush time! 20 seconds. . . rinse the brush off. . . 20 seconds. . . brush the other side of my teeth. . . 20 seconds. Ok, now I was getting actually annoyed.
I left the bathroom thinking ‘oh what a story that will be.’ But wait, I wanted more coffee to take to the office. Water on, hands moving to fill the pitcher. . . 20 seconds! ARGH!!! I have things to do and by this point I have ‘washed’ my hands for 2 minutes that didn’t actually need to be spent on that practice. I was perfectly fine and I had better things to do in my morning that look out the window while my watched counted down from 20.
But then I came across the words of Beverly Nichols, and her phase, ’the tyranny of speed.’ And I wondered if she was speaking directly to me, or to you?
She writes:
“One of the many reasons why gardens are increasingly precious to us in this day and age is that they help us to escape from the tyranny of speed. Our skies are streaked with jets, our roads have turned to race-tracks, and in the cities the crowds rush to and fro as though the devil were at their heels. But as soon as we open the garden gate, Time seems almost to stand still, slowing down to the gentle ticking of the Clock of the Universe.”
I wonder, what are the places today that you might be subject, as I was with my watch, to the tyranny of speed? Is God offering you today that chance to allow life to ’slow down to the gentle ticking’ that God created for you? I guess the only way to find out is to give it a try. . . slow down. . . and notice.
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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