She Begged Me to Stop Stretching Her Thin and Stuffing Her Full
That line haunts me. To a fault, it’s part of the story of my life. It comes from a poem, or spoken word, by Propaganda called “Be Present” on his album Excellent.
Most of my readers are not familiar with his music (Christian rap, for lack of a better category).
But you should be.
He delivers the goods, even if the packaging is not your cup of tea. I have been consistently challenged – you might even say haunted – by his powerful poetry on Excellent and his latest album Crimson Cord.
Last week, I posted a review of an essay called The Tyranny of the Urgent that reminded me of this piece by Propaganda about ‘Lady Time.’
“[Lady Time begs us] to stop stretching her thin and stuffing her full,” Propaganda says.
So true.
Enjoy this excerpt from the poem, and by “enjoy,” I mean let it haunt you. It’s a good haunting, though – the type of haunting we need in a world that thinks we can always do more if we just multi-task more.
She only gives you one shot.
Blow it and she’s gone...
You can’t rush her or slow her down.
You better keep her on your side.
She will slip through your fingers like sand.
Her name is Time.
And she told me a secret: she said multitasking is a myth.
You ain’t doing anything good, just everything awful.
And she begged me to stop stretching her thin and stuffing her full.
And stop being so concerned with the old her and future her, but love her now. Her presence is God’s present.
And you should be that: Present.
- Propaganda, “Be Present” from Excellent
* You can watch the whole thing below.
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