Have you ever heard the term “in a New York minute?” I heard it from a colleague over lunch this weekend as he referenced how quickly he would do something. I’ve heard the term before but have never given it much thought. I mean I generally understand things go “faster” in New York and I know the city itself never sleeps, etc.
So a visit to Wikipedia sheds light on this term “a New York minute.” It has been used for years and there are stories, a short film, and even a song by that title. But the upshot of the definition of the term is “the time between when a light turns green and the driver behind you honks!” That’s a New York minute…..it seems like in New York cars honk at each other much easier than my experience here in Indiana. If you honk at someone here, or get honked at, it seems to be taken personal. People get mad and fly the international sign of disapproval!
Since I commute, I’d say I use my horn a couple times a week. Usually I honk at the driver ahead who has pulled out in front of me, or taken their time to make a very wide and sloppy turn. In Crawfordsville, where I live, we have a very popular stop light that does not have a left turn arrow and for the driver to turn left they have to block the left hand lane altogether. And what makes me mad is that just a block ahead is a light with the arrow to turn left that would make it so much easier for everyone.
What is our hurry in life? Speaking from my own experience, I find myself often “rushing” to slow down. A consistent mantra I say often to myself is to slow down. Saturday I visited a person in a nursing home and near the parking lot they have a lovely little pond occupied by a geese family: mother, father and 4 goslings! I loved stopping to watch the baby geese fall in line with mother out on the water, while the Dad geese (goose?) stayed near the edge watching me. It was a God-given “Doug minute!” I gave myself some minutes to slow down and notice the beauty around me.
We all rush, we all put unnecessary pressure on ourselves to rush and hurry and the reality is we have all the time in the world. I thank God that God always has time for us and is never in a hurry. God will always listen, always available and sometimes God speaks to us in the middle of the night because that’s when God can finally get us to slow down and listen.
So consider how fast you are going. Try saying to yourself over and over today “slow down, God has this” or something similar. Take your time, we only have so many minutes in our lives to live! I think this week I’ll honk less and give the driver ahead of me some space. I’m never in the hurry I think I am. Take time for some “______” (insert your name) minutes to slow down and enjoy! Trust me, it’s more enjoyable to listen to the geese honk than the car behind me!
Peace be with you!
Pr. Doug,
NLS Spiritual Director
*P.S. I would, however, appreciate your registering for National Gathering in Ohio this July…..wait for it…..”in a New York Minute!” Visit the web site at www.viadecristo.org
Eric is our current Webmaster and works on the NLS Communications Team. Raised in Judaism, he found Christ and the New Testament at age 16 in a Southern Baptist Church. He searched many denominations for the real church, only to find the Holy Spirit is present in all of them. He's worked for One for Israel, a group of native Israeli believers who are sharing the gospel in the holy land in Hebrew and is part of the only Hebrew speaking seminary in Israel.
