Continuing our "Living the Good Life" series, we learn from Luke 10:38-42 that living the good life means living simply but not slowly, because not only is hurry unhelpful; it's also harmful to every part of our lives. While Mary sits and learns at the feet of Jesus, her sister Martha becomes overly occupied in providing for Jesus and his disciples. Though her work is good and noble, her disordered and hurried heart is worried and upset about many things, and it is harming her.

Hurry is not an external condition; it is an internal condition of the heart. As an outflowing condition of the heart, hurry hurts us, it hurts others, and it hurts our relationships with God. We should not allow our disoriented and disordered hearts full of hurry distract us from what is most important: being with Jesus. Reordering our hearts with simplicity rather than hurry through the spiritual discipline of silence and solitude allows us to love others and love God more deeply. Both contemplative learning before Jesus and intentional action for Jesus, all with an unhurried simplicity, are essential elements in living the good life, and we should challenge ourselves to consistently take time to be in silence and solitude, alone with Jesus and focused on him. Embracing simplicity instead of hurry, aided at times by the discipline of silence and solitude, reorders our hearts to what is truly important: being with Jesus.