Samara’s Reviews > The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World > Status Update

Quiet is a kind of balm for emotional healing. And more, and unlocked open door to spiritual life...the friend of silence draws near to God.

We are distracting ourselves into spiritual oblivion.

The threat is to our souls...The noise of the world makes us deaf to the voice of God, drowning out the one input we most need.

This new normal of hurried, digital distraction is robbing us of the ability to be present. Present to God, present to other people. Present to all that is good, beautiful and true in our world. Even present to our own souls.

A yoke is a work instrument; thus when Jesus offers us a yoke, He offers what we might think tired workers need least. They need a mattress or a vacation, not a yoke! Jesus realizes that the most restful gift He can give the tired is a new way to carry life...instead of offering escape, Jesus offers equipment...a way of carrying life that will give more rest than the way we have been living.
-F.Dale Bruner

[On Matthew 11:28-29] A rabbi's yoke was their teachings and practices on how to carry the burdens of this life. Like an oxen shouldering the weight of its work. Jesus' was unique in that it was easy.

Salvation comes from the root "salve" - its healing for the deep wounds of the soul.

Not only is hurry toxic to our emotional health and spiritual lives, but it's also symptomatic of much deeper issues of the heart.

What you give your attention to is the person you become...what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character. In the end your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to.