Review – DeYoung’s Crazy Busy

Today, when you ask the question to a friend or colleague, “How are you?,” what do you think the response will be?

My guess is that the standard response is no  longer, “I’m fine.”

Instead, my guess is that you’ll hear, “I’m busy!”

Busyness is the new black. It’s in fashion. Being busy validates our sense of self-worth and importance. Today, people are going, giving and serving.  And I’m thrilled about the awakening of the Church toward activism and service.

But I wonder if being busy is really the best practice in cultivating long-term health and spiritual depth. Might we be speeding toward a backlash of burnout?

In Crazy Busy, this (mercifully) short book about a (really) big problem, Kevin DeYoung calls us to live a faithful life by breaking away from a hectic lifestyle:

Here are three things I learned:

1. It’s bad enough we are living at such a frenetic pace. It’s worse when we pass it on to our kids. Today children do everything—violin lessons, soccer practice, youth group, recitals, etc. Being a good parent is saying no to good opportunities for our kids. So they can say yes to excellent ones. When was the last time we lovingly said no?
2. A busy lifestyle rarely allows us to think critically about problems or solutions. DeYoung writes, We are always engaged with our thumbs, but rarely engaged with our thoughts.  We keep downloading information, but rarely get down into the depths of our hearts (82).  This inhibits creativity and growth. When was the last time we unplugged to do deep instead of wide? 
3. Having priorities frees us to serve effectively. Being intentional is the only way to make sure we’re not letting other people dictate what we say yes and no to.  And as DeYoung writes, Starting each day with eternity makes our petty problems and to-do lists seem pretty insignificant. When was the last time we clearly created parameters that focus us on what is most important?

Finally, our current frenzied lifestyle stands in stark contrast to Jesus – Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed (Mark 1:35).

The Savior had rhythms of rest built into His life.

If Jesus—fully God—had such practices, might we also be desperately need to learn the sacredness of saying no to certain aspects of our hurried life?