Over and over again as I have researched and read for this Lenten series on hustle and its impact on our culture and ourselves, I have felt betrayed. Our culture is teaching us and moving us towards a life that isn’t fulfilling.
We are being hustled.
We are being led to believe that having more, having a bigger house, and working ourselves to the point of stress, exhaustion, and physical pain is what life’s about.
It’s not.
I’ve giving up the hustle of being hustled.
Over the past year, the reminders that we are dust and to dust we shall return have surrounded us. Whether it’s the sirens in our neighborhoods, the counter of the news that reminds us of how many souls have been lost, or the stories of friends and family who have gotten sick. Over and over again we have been reminded we have but one life to live, one chance to spend our time and energy, one opportunity.
For me this year has been a time of refining. I have realized and wrestled with how easy it is to get caught up in the hustle. I have reflected and reckoned with the ways I have participated in unjust systems. And most of all, I have been reminded about what truly matters.
I don’t want to get back to normal. I don’t want to get back to the hustle. I don’t want to get back to the grind.
I want to help create something beautiful and life-giving instead.