Lesson Two

Slow Down!  This is just not an easy thing to do.  We spent some time yesterday with people who really know how to slow down.  We went to the top of two mountains to see a monastery and a nunnery.  These people spend their whole lives devoted to slowing down and experiencing God.  But here is the question:  What is the difference between slowing down and being lazy?  We all know people who are lazy and I do not want to be like that.  But on the other hand, being on the go all of the time makes it hard to hear the voice of God.  Lesson 2 for me is that slowing down is not laziness.  

As we drove to the top of these mountains and walked into their places of worship, it felt like a place where you could come close to God.  With the beauty of God's creation all around you, it was so easy to sense His presence.  It was a place where I just wanted to sit for a while.  It was a place of real peace.  But in the middle of that peace were tourists hurrying from here to there and many of them just missed the purpose of that place.  

I pray in the coming weeks that I will be able to find the difference between slowing down and being lazy.  They are not the same.  

The Greek culture is all about slowing down.  The streets are filled with coffee shops where people gather to visit for hours on end.  Greek coffee is boiled at a very low temperature until it is ready.  You cannot drink it right away like we do. It must sit for a while; the coffee grounds need to settle to the bottom of the cup before you can drink it. While it settles, they sit and visit and enjoy each other's company.  They take time to develop their relationships. This my friends is not lazy, but maybe just the way God wants us to live. So slow down and smell the coffee.