Sunday Morning Freewrite

It has been two weeks since I have done a freewrite.

The April praxis exercise is "An Unhurried Space."  Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

Purpose:  The writer of Proverbs understood that, “It is not good to . . . be hasty and miss the way” (19:2). Likewise, the apostle Paul emphasized the importance of taking time to follow God’s leading: “So to make sure there will be no slipup . . . I want you to have all the time you need to make this offering in your own way. I don’t want anything forced or hurried at the last minute” (2 Cor. 9:5, MSG). In a moment of Jesus’ life when it would have been logical to rush (to heal Jairus’ daughter), he instead took time not only to acknowledge the healing of the woman with the flow of blood, but also to listen to her tell “the whole truth” (Mark 5:33).
Dallas Willard comments on the motives behind haste and rushing in the article “Looking Like Jesus” (Chapter 4 of ​The Great Omission). He says,

"Many well-meaning people . . . cannot succeed in being kind because they are too rushed to get things done. Haste has worry, fear, and anger as close associates; it is a deadly enemy of kindness, and hence of love. If this is our problem, we may be greatly helped by a day's retreat into solitude and silence, where we will discover that the world survives even though we are inactive. There we might prayerfully meditate to see clearly the damage done by our unkindness, and honestly compare it to what, if anything, is really gained by our hurry. We will come to understand that for the most part our hurry is really based upon pride, self-importance, fear, and lack of faith, and rarely upon the production of anything of true value for anyone.

Perhaps we will end up making plans to pray daily for the people with whom we deal regularly. Or we may resolve to ask associates for forgiveness for past injuries. Whatever comes of such prayerful reflection, we may be absolutely sure that our lives will never be the same, and that we will enjoy a far greater richness of God's reality in our lives." (​The Great Omission, p. 29)

So this is the basis for my freewrite this morning. 

Nessa came over at the beginning of the month, and I told her about this monthly praxis, and she said, "Well don't you usually live a pretty unhurried life?" That was nice to hear from someone I have known since 2011 when she was in our ministry training for a short time until she decided to go to India for a short-term and then (a couple of years later) went to Southern California for her training in order to free from all the obligations her large family demands. It was a smart move. She is back for a few months until she flies off to Central Asia soon. 

She has sat in my living room in my "unhurried" space time on my couch many times. I usually don't schedule something on the other end of my time with women. I let the time go, and that particular afternoon, Nessa and I spent about 3 1/2 uninterrupted hours together. This is why I don't know how good I would be as a person who saw people in 50 minutes chunks of time. (Less is more.) I like to have an unhurried space to truly listen to others. 

There was one particular morning where it could have been hurried, and I purposely documented my feelings throughout the morning. On the first week of the term, the first day is pretty casual because people are still adding and dropping classes, so I don't make a master class list or index cards for each student (I take roll by the students having the card at their mat during class so I can identify and learn their names as I walk around the room and they turn in their cards at the end so I can record their attendance) until they have come to class that first day and filled out a card. Before the SECOND day of class, I make the master list and record the attendance and bring blank cards for those who didn't show up for the first day of class. This particular day, I allotted 1 1/2 hours for my two classes. I planned it. I had not procrastinated because the add drops often continue until the morning right before my class. I exported the class lists and made up my own attendance/tardy/points for cognitive learning assignment and extra credit (writing they do at the 5th and 8th week of class). It was going well, but my printer was not working. BUT I did not panic and I did not hurry. All that to say, it took about ten minutes longer than the allotted 1 1/2 hours. I continued to pray. I got on my bike and rode and prayed and sang praise songs like I usually do when I ride to class ON TIME. I am an "on time" kind of gal, and in the past being behind schedule is stressful for me, but I chose to breath and not tense up and keep in dialogue with Jesus about the delay. It was glorious! 

All that to say, I haven't mentioned that I usually arrive at my classroom 20 minutes early to set it up and have soft music playing before my students arrive because I like to create an atmosphere of peace for them. So, I ended up arriving at my class only six minutes later than I usually do. Granted, there were about six students waiting at the locked door (but part of it was I chose to also linger a bit in a conversation with the office staff as I picked up my Pilates mat). I still maintained peace with less minutes to prepare my class, and there was no need to panic, and the great thing was I DID NOT! 

All that to say, I am going to give myself TWO hours for preparation of the class lists next term. so that I can make sure to have extra margin in getting to class. 

I think I am pretty responsible when it comes to my classes, and perhaps I am overly so, but the fact that I allow 20 minutes before my classes really saved me Fall term when my bike got a flat tire about a mile away from my classroom and I had to lock it somewhere and walk the rest of the way to class. So, that is a good thing. 

I am adding two more classes next Fall term. So, we will see if this will be a challenge. I don't want to over commit, but the two additional classes will be at an athletic club with a pool and other classes I really want to take. So I will have Mondays and Wednesday to add weight lifting to my schedule. Something I have not been very good at adding since I left the other athletic club I taught at 1 1/2 years ago. This should prove to be more beneficial to my body than I realize. 

Well, the fifteen are up, and I am on to other things right now.