She Begged Me to Stop Stretching Her Thin and Stuffing Her Full
A poem to remind us of what's important in life.
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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THE TYRANNY OF THE URGENT by Charles E. Hummel (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
Right now, stop what you are doing and read this blog post. Seriously. I am urgent. I am a helpful review that can't wait. You can do whatever you are doing now, later.
The Tyranny of the Urgent by Charles E. Hummel (IVP Books, ‘Revised & enlarged edition’ April 19, 1994; 31 pages)
A friend gave me this little booklet about 3 months ago. I was going to read it right away, but … well … I think you know where this is going.
The central thesis is this: most people have lives devoured by “the urgent” but not necessarily important, and this is so to such an extent that we neglect the truly important.
My copy of the booklet states that it was originally published in 1967 and “updated and expanded” in ’94. This makes the author’s comments about the “invasion of the telephone” all the more true of our smartphones.
I do not agree with every statement, (e.g., “The worst sin is prayerlessness”), but I did very much appreciate the counsel on time-management, perhaps analogous to Dave Ramsey’s financial budgeting, for those familiar.
But what I found most helpful, convicting, and encouraging were the reflections upon Jesus’ life and the Bible verses about how Jesus “completed his Father’s will.”
Did “completing” mean that Jesus healed every sick person, or cast out every demon, or preached in every village? No, it didn’t. But he did his Father’s will for him, and that was enough. And it should be our aim as well—a freeing, not crushing, ambition.
So what’s the main takeaway? It’s this: what is important in life rarely dances on the coffee table and tells you she is so. And if she does, it’s probably too late. Better listen while she whispers.
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