Justin Whitmel Earley
Habits form us more than we form them. The modern world is a machine of invisible habits, forming us into anxious, busy people. We yearn for the freedom of the gospel but remain shackled by our screens and exhausted by our routines. What can we do about it? The answer to our contemporary chaos is to practice a rule of life that aligns our habits to our beliefs. [This book]'s four daily and four weekly habits transform frazzled days into lives of love for God and neighbor.
Borrowed this book from the library as part of our church's elders' current conversational arc about discipleship, which is part of the processing being done as a result of our pastoral staff's attendance at a national conference a few months ago. My knee-jerk reaction was along the lines of "This is kind of Pharisaical, isn't it? Follow all these steps. Habitually do all these things. Tote this barge. Lift that bale." But the more I read, the more I realized he was just sharing what has worked for him and why and was also offering his habits as examples of what might work for me. The suggested habits are logically organized and supported with personal anecdotes that make for simple, understandable reading. Now I just need to decide which ones to adopt, because reading this book without making some positive changes in my time usage would be a crime.
First Line: It was twelve on an ordinary Saturday night when I woke suddenly in a dreadful panic, sweating and shaking.
Page 56 / Line 5: And so we rest.
A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: The former editor in chief of Elle magazine, Jean-Dominique Bauby, after suffering a stroke that left him immobile except for one eyelid, wrote his incredible memoir The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by blinking one eye to a secretary who would read through the letters of the alphabet to spell words.
Last Line: They become the days that become a life spent looking at the beautiful one, the one named Jesus, who with a glance can catch the heart off guard - and blow it open.
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