A few years back I read Carl Honore’s “In Praise of Slow” (see below for details).  It occurred to me then that instead of (or as well as) undertaking a “fast” for lent in the traditional sense, I might undertake a “slow”.  I know that’s playing with words. But there is good reason for slowing down.

I remember listening to a sermon once by a man called Jack Hayford. He was a pastor in some USA denomination, and I happened across him by accident. Much of what he said was in the kind of religious language that leaves me wondering about someone’s connection to the real world, and when he said he “heard God speak to him audibly” I wondered a little more.  But apparently God said to him, as he was driving around town, “If you don’t slow down, you’re going to crash.” He spent some time considering what kind of spiritual application this had – were his church programmes being developed too quickly? Was this some wisdom about regulating Church growth? Eventually, Mr Hayford realised that the words in his head had to do with his speedometer, not his church.

Steve Taylor once wrote about a challenge to the culture of speed in Church:

“I believed in a fast God. I was part of a system that gave altar calls for instant salvation, prayed for healing, and expected instant church growth, if not this week, then at least this month. Did I follow a fast God? And what would it mean for me to follow a slow God; the God who took 80 years to prepare Moses for leadership; who took 40 years to get a people across a dessert; who took 30 years to prepare a Messiah ministry; who gave Paul 3 years for integration? Where is the slow God in my spiritual formation?”

Here are some of my Lent slow-down pledges:

1. Walking instead of driving where possible.

2. Say no.

3. Go to bed earlier.