Subtitle: “How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World”
“The problem isn’t when you have a lot to do; it’s when you have too much to do and the only way to keep the quota up is to hurry.” (p, 21)
Can you relate? In this book, author John Mark Comer invites us to discover “what the way of Jesus has to say to the epidemic of hurry.” (p. 76)
He’s approaching the topic from a Christian perspective. However, there’s plenty of valuable content about the problem—and possible solutions—for people of other faiths or no faith.
Meticulously researched, quoting multiple sources and studies, the book is highly readable. Look at the endnotes too. Sometimes they expand on quoted material, and sometimes they’re funny. I found some other books I hope to read later.
There’s a link at the end to a digital workbook called How to Unhurry, which comes with brief teaching videos.
For me, this is a gateway book leading into his newer book, Practicing the Way, which I’m hoping will further expand on the principles I’ve just read.
Highly recommended. Thought provoking. And with practical suggestions on how to implement the practices of “Silence and Solitude, Sabbath, Simplicity, and Slowing.” Not everything will feel applicable, but if we gain only one or two things it will be a journey worth taking.
John Mark Comer is a teacher, speaker, and bestselling author with a refreshing delivery of longstanding truths we need to hear. For more about him and his work, including links to podcasts, his blog, and his newsletter signup, visit johnmarkcomer.com.
Please note that the following insights are for information purposes only. Getting professional help (a personal trainer, a counsellor, a financial advisor, etc.) is often an important step to making healthier choices in every area of life.
Most people give at least some thought to their physical, emotional, and mental health—to one degree or another. Those of us who are Christian likely give thought to our spiritual health as well—perhaps, prioritizing it over health in other areas. And then there’s relational health, financial health, etc.
Just how can writing help us improve our health in every area?
Before we dive in, let’s remember one very important thing: we can’t give equal attention to every area of health at the same time. That, in itself, would cause ongoing stress, which is not good for our health in any area.
Physical Health
You may want to begin by writing down your goals and setting a reasonable timeframe in which to achieve each of them. Keep track of successes, both big and small.
For example…
Goal: Develop a habit of exercising for a total of 150 minutes each week by the end of 2023.
This Week’s Goal: Exercise for 30 minutes twice this week.
Success: Took a 30-minute walk on Monday.
August’s Goal: Exercise for 30 minutes twice a week for the first week and 30 minutes three times a week for the remainder of the month.
Emotional Health
I have a journaling app on my phone. On more than one occasion, my entry simply read, “Ahhhhhhhhh!”
Journaling about your feelings, especially those often labeled “negative,” where others aren’t going to read your thoughts can be a helpful way of acknowledging and beginning to process them.
Mental Health
Of course, mental health and emotional health are closely linked. If you make it a habit of tracking how you’re feeling and what you’re thinking, you may be able to discern a pattern and take steps to improve both your emotional and mental health. And remember, everyone needs a support system. Talking with a therapist, a counsellor, or another professional can go a long way to developing resilience, which we all need.
Spiritual Health
Here are six ways writing can help in this area:
Journal your prayers. This can keep you from getting distracted. Plus, it’s a great idea to review your prayer journal and make note of answered prayers.
Many have found that keeping a gratitude journal can help them focus on the positive—even in the darkest of days.
Take notes while you listen to a sermon, message, or podcast.
Summarize your Bible reading in a brief paragraph.
Keeping track of your spiritual growth can be an encouragement to you. Plus, one day, you may be able to use your words to encourage others on their own journey to spiritual health.
Tools to Use
A note-taking app on your phone
A journaling app on your phone (I have the paid version of the Day One Journal, which is extremely versatile.)
A Word doc on your computer
A physical journal or notebook
A dictation app on your phone
Let’s make one or two healthier choices this week and consider how writing can keep us on track.
Photo credit: Jaime Mellor Photography
As an editor, Steph Beth Nickel has the honour of coming alongside writers to help them polish their work. As the coauthor of Paralympian Deb Willows’s memoirs, Steph has been blessed to work with this amazing woman. And as a future self-published author, with the Lord’s help, Steph has taken brave steps toward publication.
Do people who always seem at peace with whatever life may throw at them drive you crazy?
(Psst, that’s a rhetorical question. You don’t have to share your answer. Maybe not so rhetorical actually … since you probably should answer it for yourself.)
Let me transport you back in time three decades or so. When I was a brand new mom, my family and I moved to a new city.
There were members in our new church home who were going through what I then considered unimaginable hardships, including one family whose young son had succumbed to cancer. As the mother of a two-and-a-half-month-old baby boy, I couldn’t imagine why God would bless a family with a child and then take that child away.
Oh, I could recite the cliches! But I didn’t know any of them to be true—not deep down in my heart.
As time went by and I got to know some of these people better, I realized they weren’t just spouting platitudes but actually trusted that God knew what was best—even when their situation was difficult and heartbreaking.
Trust, especially trust in the God of All Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3), is a remarkable and precious thing.
But what we think is trust can actually be denial, a squashing of our feelings, doubts, and fears.
This summer, my second son is getting married. Because of COVID, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be able to attend the ceremony. (He and his bride-to-be live two provinces away.)
I’ve braced myself for this pretty much since Joshua informed me that he and Ericka had set a date. Still, it was more with a sense of fatalism than acceptance that I dealt with the reality of the situation.
And then, one day, I decided to be completely honest with myself. While I may have locked away my emotions, it didn’t mean they weren’t there. It didn’t mean that, if I gave them permission, the tears wouldn’t fall. It didn’t mean that I was truly accepting that God knows best in this, and every, circumstance.
COVID has taken many lives, and my heart goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one or is facing an ongoing battle with this horrific virus.
But, as we all know, COVID has struck a fatal blow in other areas as well—job security, relationships, our peace of mind, and on and on and on.
There’s no denying it.
And yet, there is light in the darkness, hope in the despair, trust in the denial.
But the way to find real peace is not by denying the struggles we face—physical, emotional, and spiritual.
We don’t need to cling to platitudes or cliches.
We don’t need to deny how we feel—or that we’ve locked away our emotions.
We don’t need to paste on a happy face and pretend we’re a-okay.
But if we want to come to the place of authentic trust, we must press in and get to know the God of All Comfort better than we ever have before.
That’s what I plan to do. How about you?
Steph Beth Nickel
Photo credit: Jaime Mellor Photography
As an editor, Steph Beth Nickel has the honour of coming alongside writers to help them polish their work. As the coauthor of Paralympian Deb Willows’s memoirs, Steph has been blessed to work with this amazing woman. And as a future self-published author, with the Lord’s help, Steph has taken brave steps toward publication.
