As I write this, I’m still catching back up from a week at Affirm. It’s a really humbling experience to get to spend the week watching God work in and through so many young people in so many ways. It’s also a little bit humbling in that Affirm reminds me that I’m not as young as I once was. The week moves fast and I do my best to keep up, but by the time I get home on Friday afternoon, I’m pretty much spent.
That might be why I’ve been dwelling on a word that Pastor Jonathan Hemphill shared with us during staff training. He read from Jeremiah 2:25, using the paraphrase of The Message, which reads, “Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry? Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway?” And I have to be honest with you, Church, I needed to hear that. It was important for us during Affirm, a good reminder that sometimes trying to keep up with the schedule gets in the way of seeing those God moments that happen on their own schedule. And it’s a good reminded to me as I come home, looking at my calendar and all the things I need to accomplish in the days and weeks ahead. Slow down. Take a deep breath.
Maybe we all need that word. We live in a world that doesn’t ever seem to slow down. And it can be so easy to get caught up in the hustle and miss the here and now. Panic over meeting deadlines and getting things done can disrupt our ability to be present in what is really important. We all know this. But sometimes it’s hard to trust it and to live it when we have so many unfinished tasks, so many looming deadlines, so many people depending on us to do our part. So we hurry from one task to the next, checking off boxes while so often forgetting to check in on our spirits. And when the day ends, maybe we have accomplished a lot, but the list of unfinished items and pending projects still looms large.
“Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry? Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway?” The words of the Prophet Jeremiah are important for us to take some time with. We need to remember that our worth does not come from what we do, but from who God says we are. We need to remember that for all the goals we set, the primary task we have been given as baptized children of God is to work for the Beloved Community, to build up the Kin-dom of God. And that takes time. But more than time, it takes presence. We cannot rush the Kin-dom. No amount of hustle will hasten the Holy Spirit. This work we share will is not measured in deadlines, but devotion.
So slow down and notice where God is at work in and around you. Take a deep breath and feel the spirit fill your lungs. What’s the hurry? God is with you. Why wear yourself out? Jesus invites you to find rest in him. Just what are you after anyway? Our most precious pursuit is life in abundance. May we slow down enough to receive it.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Will Starkweather
Last modified: June 24, 2026