Chapter 3: Something is deeply wrong

Jesus tells a story about seed that falls among thorns. In his explanation, those are people "who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful." Nothing is wrong with the seed. Nothing is wrong with the hearer's wish to grow. The problem is crowding. Too many other things take up the same ground.

Comer's third chapter is about that crowding. He calls hurry a kind of violence on the soul and defines hurry sickness as an unremitting struggle to do more in less time. Then he lists ten symptoms: irritability, hypersensitivity, restlessness, workaholism, emotional numbness, out-of-order priorities, neglect of the body, escapism, slipping spiritual disciplines, and isolation. Take your time with the list. Read it slowly, and be honest. Most readers will see themselves in at least a few.

A word of care is needed here. This list is not a diagnosis. It is a mirror for reflection, not a medical or mental health test. If numbness, escapism, or isolation have been with you for a long time, or if you are using something to get through the day, please talk with a counselor, physician, or pastor. If you ever feel like hurting yourself, reach out to a crisis line or someone you trust right away. Seeking help is not a failure of faith.

The second half of the chapter turns to attention, and that is where Jesus's thorns come back. Comer draws on Mary Oliver's remark that attention is the beginning of devotion, and on the idea that your life is the sum of what you give attention to. He describes the modern world as a conspiracy against the interior life. You may not agree with every word of that, but the pattern is easy to spot. What you look at, you start to love. What you keep feeding grows.

So Jesus's list of thorns is worth reading as a list of attention-takers: worries, money, wanting more. They are not always bad things. They become thorns when they get the best of your mind and leave no room for the word to grow.

The question for this week is not "What is wrong with me?" It is "What am I feeding?" Choose one good thing to give real attention to, and protect a small slot of time for it. That one choice is how thorns get cut back, a little at a time.