Avoid The Rush

For the first time, I tried making a video with my phone today; capturing myself rushing to an 8:00am appointment, while being hopelessly stuck in traffic (click video). Well, I was almost late, praise God I made it in the nick of time.

Most of us live a busy lifestyle. There's almost no time for anything; we keep on rushing. We rush to meet a deadline; we rush to work; we ask a supplier to do a rush order; we rush to the airport; and etc. Before we know it, we are stressed, and our health and family are affected.  Why do we rush?  Here are some culprits:

1. We like to be "Kings and Queens of Procrastination". A lot of us do things on the eleventh hour! We're adrenalin junkies doing the "Last 2 minutes", buzzer beater effort.  We often choose to enjoy first -- knowing that we'll suffer with the pressure. "I want to enjoy 30 more minutes of sleep" very well knowing that traffic will be terrible or "I want to go out with friends first" aware that the deadline's just around the corner.

2. We have this notion that we are more "Creative under Pressure." Well it took 6 days for God to create everything, and on the 7th day He rested -- and enjoyed the beauty of creation. God took His time. Beauty takes some time: the beauty of a well-detailed report; the beauty of a scholarly and well-researched thesis; the beauty of a well integrated graphic design; and many more works of art, beautiful art with ample time to create.

3. We think we have "The Ability to transform into Nocturnal Creatures". On the night before the deadline, we mutate into owls; as if sleeping is for the day (this is not in the context of those in the BPO business). We think, "I can do it all in just one sleepless night." Of course, when dawn comes and the hour of submission nears, we wished there was more time.

Let us take time and avoid the rush. Take time to pray -- and ask for strength and discipline to do the needed work, even if you don't feel like it yet. Prayer also helps you to meditate on what important stuffs to do first. Just do it! Start with the small and easy tasks. Before you know it you're on a roll and your momentum is unstoppable. Develop the "Now" habit. If you can do it now, why wait for later. Many of our problems can be solved in the next 5 minutes with a simple text, call or email.

"Complete it now, so that your eager willingness may be matched by your completion
of it out of what you have". (2 Cor. 8:11)

Let God's Voice Be Heard

Everyday we are bombarded with so much information (both useful and unvaluable) -- through our emails, facebook, twitter, billboards, tv commercials, ads on the internet and etc. We are also engrossed with the latest gadgets and the newest apps. Many of us are absorbed in the plots of  popular TV series' and movies. We are also busy with work, school, and family concerns. These among many take up our attention in our 24-hour day. It is indeed the information age.

With all these things that overwhelm our senses, the voice of God can easily get drowned in the background of the noise of the world. We can easily be distracted away from Him.  Many of these information promote values of materialism, secularism, relativism, as if trying to take God out of our minds--out of our system. Just try to notice how many Christians today struggle to have a consistent prayer time or even have the time to go to Mass on Sunday. I think one of the great challenges of evangelization today is how to get people to notice the wonderful and salvific friendship offered by Jesus Christ. It is God who initiates this relationship, but many cannot hear His voice.

Quoting Herbert Simon, he said, "What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention."

As evangelizing Christians, how do we grab the attention of today's people towards God?


1. Get Creative

Creativity is important.  Jesus will always be relevant, since He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It is a matter of being able to communicate or evangelize the Gospel message with the right medium -- hitting what is relevant to the target audience.  We need to approach evangelization by means of Creative Fidelity.

 According to http://www.publicchristian.com/?p=196 :

“Creative Fidelity” is the solution Gabriel Marcel (French Catholic existentialist philosopher) provided for the problem of time and change in human relationships. [2]

For example, the man who made my wedding vows is not the man I am today. I am more experienced, more knowledgeable, more mature, perhaps wiser, have different interests and occupations. My spouse also has changed significantly. Why should these older and wiser persons be bound by promises made by younger and more foolish people who in so many ways no longer exist?

I am sure they should; that’s what ‘vow’ means.


Is our approach to evangelization stuck in the 80's when the world was "quieter"?  Are we not a different society, now with more history, and with an evolved behavior?  Getting creative doesn't only mean having an attractive poster or theme or a new program.  It means having fidelity to the truth and depth of God's message -- and expressing it in a manner that rises above the noise of the world.  "The Church recognizes that these media, if properly utilized, can be of great service to mankind, since they greatly contribute to men's entertainment and instruction as well as to the spread and support to the Kingdom of God." (Inter Mirifica, 2)

2. Be in the world, but not of the world.

“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves." Matthew 10:16

Many have a tendency to alienate themselves from the rest of their peers. Sure, we have to be modern day martyrs and stand of for Christ amidst persecution or getting ridiculed, but we also have to look on saving the souls of those around us. We have to connect to our peers, but not with their addictions, corrupt ways, or general unchristian habits.  We have to be loving witnesses who do not judge and condemn, but who reach out and listen.

In today's generation, many are turned off by straightforward preaching. Although preaching truly proclaims God's Word, but to quote Evangelii Nuntiandi 41:

 "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses."

What really wards off people from hearing about Jesus is how we represent Jesus to them through our own lives. Indeed it is a tall order to become witnesses, but by His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will have the strength to be true witnesses for Christ amidst an environment of "wolves."

3. Find Common Ground

What we also need to do to catch people's attention towards the Lord is to find out what their interests are. They will listen if it concerns them. Are they young parents? So, they must be dying to hear about parenting or raising children to be good Christians. Are they sports enthusiasts? So organize a sports event like a basketball tournament or a fun run. Are they technology buffs? Organize a forum on making the most out of their gadgets. Sometimes we have to transform the "noise" of the world into the sweet sound of God's voice by Christifying the secular.

If we look intently, people's natural interests may as well be a new mission area.  It may not be geographic, but if you see  how the hundreds or thousands of people with a common enthusiasm gather, there is enormous potential.  "Missionary activity is closely bound up even with human nature itself and its aspirations (Ad Gentes, 8). By finding common ground, we let God transform it into holy ground -- His kingdom on earth.

Let God's voice be heard today!  Let us emerge from the drowning noise of the secular world and sound off the beautiful ensemble of the Good News.