Infinite Life Lived in Infinite Speed

I have a song on my iPhone where the lyrics include the line, “infinite life lived in infinite speed”. The song is generally about what a beautiful world we have and how we need to pay attention and appreciate it. OK, the song seems like it could have come straight from a ‘70’s love-in, but for some reason I like it regardless. While it’s a very nice, smooshy song, this line has never seemed to feel quite right. While I’m sure the purpose is to encourage us to appreciate the world around us because life passes so quickly, the line actually makes me a bit sad.

For those of us who have lived our fair share of decades, I think we understand how life moves quickly. I mentioned to Ruth recently that a whole piece of our lives passed in the blink of an eye – mostly the years our kids lived at home (don’t worry kids, we still love you). The frenetic pace at which days turn into weeks, which turn into months, and eventually turn into years is only fully appreciated looking backwards. Kierkegaard is quoted, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” There is much truth to that.

So, back to the song lyrics. I think as Christians, we certainly believe we have infinite lives, insofar as we are eternal beings who live on after our physical death. That part makes sense, but the living at “infinite speed” is more difficult. In some sense, if you live an infinite life, you are automatically living at infinite speed (this concept will give you a headache if you think about it too long). However, regardless of whether we are actually living at infinite speed, I don’t think it’s something I would want.

It seems to me that we are not called as Christians to operate at infinite speed, but rather, to shed the frenetic pace of this world and take a step back. We are called to be grounded in such a way that the world spinning around us matters, but does not ultimately matter. You and I should be standing back from all our worries, and as C.S. Lewis puts it, “coming in out of the wind.”

Some time ago, our pastor read Lamentations 3:28 from The Message, a biblical paraphrase (i.e., not a translation). It says, “When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence.” I like the image of entering God’s silence. That is where we listen and learn and become at peace.

In the world of public policy, there is plenty of spinning at a breakneck pace and lots of distractions to keep us from grounding ourselves. During a typical legislative session, things become crazy at NDFA, trying to keep up with identifying bills, creating testimony, presenting at hearings, talking with legislators, and much more. But the challenge is to “enter the silence” of God’s plan for us.

Our organization is first and foremost there to represent your biblical values. Most of the time it’s through all the aforementioned mechanisms, but sometimes it’s simply taking a few minutes to talk with a legislator or colleague who seems to be going through a rough time. Perhaps it’s striking up a conversation with those in a hearing room who are there to testify against our position. Maybe it’s as simple as taking a few seconds and talking with the security officers at the Capitol entryway.

Let me close with this story. A few sessions ago, I was busy testifying on our many bills, and something odd happened. After a number of hearings, it began to register to me that the same lady often sat in the back of the hearing room when I testified. In fact, sometimes she was nearly the only person present besides the committee members and me. But here’s the strange part – she never got up and testified or interacted with the proceedings.

Well, my curiosity finally got the better of me, and eventually I went over and introduced myself. Of course, I asked her why she was at the hearings but hadn’t testified or gotten involved in any other way. Her answer? “I sit in the back and pray while you testify”. Wow. That stopped me in my tracks. Suddenly, I was pulled out of the wind and forced to enter the silence that was there all along, but which I was neglecting in my rushed political work.

We all have times when life spins around us and can seem a bit overwhelming, especially during those busy “kid years”. I’m here to tell you that it truly does pass in the blink of an eye, as many older folks always tried to tell us. We can seem to run at infinite speed sometimes, but let’s work at stepping back and “entering the silence” God gives us. So, if you see me hurrying around the Capitol during session, stop me and ask if I’ve entered His silence. I need the reminder.