Slow-Motion gives our minds tiiiiiiiiiiime to examine the details.
Mark 1:41
[Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”]
2 facets here: a movement of compassion, then a movement of will (compassion must be cultivated to a point where it initiates a change in our personal will).
Shivering puppies in slow-mo, starving young Africans in slow-mo, newly drilled fresh water wells in slow-mo, laughing Ukrainian orphans… all in slow-mo. Why? Why does slow-mo make me wanna give money to Sarah McLachlan even more? Would I be as moved if the shivering puppy footage was sped up 2 times? It’d probably be funny.
Putting things in slow-motion combats the excessive pace at which our lives are lived. The more tiiiiiime any matter spends on our minds, the deeper it is embedded to our spirit, our person. An idea thought only once will in no way become part of you. Your heart’s genome is constructed of not only the personality God has given you, but, matters that have been on your mind for any length of time. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+13:3&version=NKJV).
So, this tiny little blog entry is an urging for us to take the tiiiiiiiiiime to see, hear, watch and feel the hurt around us. Take tiiiiiiiiiime to read the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit illuminate new things to you. I argue that if you take more time with your unsaved world, your born-again spirit will cultivate compassion, and thus have a change in your will (which is basic Christianity).
Again, compassion is not enough. Compassion must initiate a change in our will. The Good Samaritan put his life on pause to care for the stranger. When was the last time we put our lives on pause? When was the last time we halted our plans and shouldered one anothers’ burdens? It’s a powerful thought especially when we consider this fact: time is more valuable than money to many people. Imagine if you gave the homeless dude a $20 bill and an hour or two of your time to hear his/her story (Oh God, how colorful the stories of the hurting).
To take your time and listen to the story of the hurting… to take your time and trade it for knowing your fellow man…
A life lived in an occaisional slow-motion will give that life time to see, hear, watch and feel the details of everything around us. Slow-motion works.
Tim Edwards 