August 2011 – Page 2

Busted! Now what?

Growth & Development, Overcoming / Tom Stuart

“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick, who can understand it.” (Jeremiah 17:9) ESV

I got busted yesterday. While going through airport security the TSA spotted something suspicious in my backpack. I was pulled aside and given a full body scan and pat down search. An amiable agent with gloved hand proceeded to gingerly empty my pack piece by piece, a pocket at a time. At the outset he asked me if I had any item that was sharp or used for cutting. I politely replied “No, not to my knowledge.” When I said that, I was reasonably assured because I have traveled with that backpack numerous times.

To my chagrin however, the methodical agent did find the sharp, cutting item he was looking for. It was a small red Swiss army pocket knife. You know the kind – no more than an inch and a half long, just big enough to hold a tooth pick and tiny tweezers in slots on each side. I apologized explaining I was not aware it was there. Holding it in the palm of his hand he asked if I had someone still at the airport I wanted to give it to; otherwise he added, he would have to keep it. I said “No, that’s alright . . . thank you for doing your job.”

I really did not give the incident and loss of the knife a second thought. With several of those little red knives at home and one actually on my key ring, all my teeth picking needs would still be adequately covered.

My mind was preoccupied with more important things – breakfast. After repacking my backpack I made a beeline for the concourse McDonalds to enjoy some pancakes and sausage before making my way to the boarding gate.

As I was savoring my meal I unconsciously licked the syrup from my plastic knife and was startled when the serrated edge cut me as it brushed the corner of my mouth. “Dumb” I admonished myself . . . but that got me to thinking. I had just passed through security where they are on the hunt for items that are sharp and cutting. My little knife was confiscated, and justifiably so, because it could be used as a weapon to hijack a plane, the way the 911 hijackers used box cutters to wreck havoc on our nation 10 years ago.

Busted! Now what? Read More »

5 Antidotes for Hurry Sickness

Hurry sickness like most undetected diseases is a silent killer. The sobering fact is that hurry sickness could be wrecking havoc in our lives without us even knowing it. Make no mistake about it; hurry sickness is a killer disease. It kills relationships, it kills productivity, it kills perspective and priorities, it kills spontaneity and the joy of the moment and worst of all it kills spirituality. How can that be?

More often than not, hurry sickness forces us to sacrifice the important things in life for those things which seem urgent, but are not as important. Years ago Charles Hummel, in a little booklet by the same title, identified this tendency as the “Tyranny of the Urgent.” Urgency, although a life saver when it is an appropriate response, becomes a tyrant when everyday life suffers from its inflated and incessant demands.

Hurry sickness is therefore defined as “a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness; an overwhelming and continual sense of urgency.” (Dictionary.com)

How do you know if you have hurry sickness? Simply measure your life against the definition. If you frequently feel rushed, anxious, overwhelmed and/or are always battling a sense of urgency, then you have it. Ouch! I’ve got it! Do you?

The bigger question then becomes, what do we do about it? Having battled this disease most of my life I’ve realized there are no easy answers. I have discovered however that getting older helps. One of the benefits of aging is that a person begins to gain some perspective that everything isn’t as urgent as it once seemed. And the really important things in life have a way of coming into to focus more readily. For this I am thankful.