Last Saturday, my husband and I made an impromptu decision to head to the movie theatre to see the new release of Zootopia. We happily enjoyed our afternoon with a packed out house of kiddos with their parents in tow.
The story? Judy Hopps is a bunny who grows up on a carrot farm with uptight parents. Judy, who embodies kindness and compassion, springs into action when a bully turns aggressive in the local school yard. Judy then decides to leave the city to become a cop. Judy graduates from cop school and is ready to prove herself. Discouraged by her first assignment, giving parking tickets, she works hard to climb the ladder. Her big break comes when she is assigned the case of some missing mammals in Zootopia. She teams up with Nick Wilde, a fox, and is given only 48 hours to solve the case.
Favorite scene hands down….Officer Hopps and Nick enter the DMV, only to find all the employees are sloths. Picture the bunny and fox leaning over the counter trying to give information QUICKLY to Flash, the sloth. Everyone in the DMV is in SLOW MOTION. Crazy Nick, the fox, only makes things worse by telling the sloth a joke. Flash proceeds to tell his workmate the joke…. in slow motion, of course. All the while, Officer Hopps is going CRAZY!
I can be just like Officer Hopps. I like to do everything fast. Get it done. Whether it's getting ready in the morning or doing errands, I like to GET IT DONE. And when I have to slow down or wait? Not always easy. Dallas Willard writes "Hurry is an attitude. It's not necessarily the same thing as speed- it's trusting in your speed. It comes from pride and trying to do too much. Good things do not come from being in a hurry! We need to ruthlessly eliminate hurry!" Wow. Great words. Ruthlessly eliminate hurry. Easier said than done.
How about you? When do you find hurry taking over in your life? A very quick deadline like Officer Hopps? Late for an appointment and rushing to get there? Trying to do too much in a short amount of time? Often, when we're this busy, our true colors come out. Impatience. Anger. Pride. Control. Rage. We don't leave a great impression. James Spiegel writes "to be patient is to endure discomfort without complaint." I want to be more like that.
Why is patience so difficult for you and I? Perhaps our pride gets in the way too often. This virtue of patience is something to aspire to. I hope someday that I could go into the make-believe DMV employed by sloths and just be content with their slow pace. Even laugh a bit. That would be growth for me.
How do you grow in patience? Ask God for help in becoming a more patient person. As you are given opportunities to practice patience, train to become more patient in the moment. Stop the need for speed. Take a few deep breaths. Be thankful for the moment. Just relax. My husband helps in this area! Now that we've seen the movie, he often stops and asks me a question in super slow motion…."Nancy……What….. Do…... You….. Call….. A…...Three.....Humped…..Camel?
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galations 5:22-23
"The times we find ourselves having to wait on others may be the perfect opportunities to train ourselves to wait on the Lord." Joni Eareckson Tada
Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.
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