Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry…

John Wesley was scrupulously neat in his person and habits. I am not.

“Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry, I never undertake any more work than I can get through with perfect calmness of spirit.”

He did everything deliberately, because he had no time to spend in going over it again.  Wesley once said to Sammy, his brother youngest son, “…be punctual. Whenever I am to go to a place, the first thing I do is to get ready; then what time remains is all my own.”   His coachman was expected to be at the door exactly at the moment fixed.   If anything detained his carriage, Wesley would walk on till it overtook him.   Every minute, both of day and night, had its appointed work.   “Joshua, when I go to bed, I go to bed to sleep, and not to talk,”, was his rebuke to a young preacher who once shared his room and wished to steal some of Wesley’s precious moments of repose for conversation on some difficult problems.   To one who asked him how it was that he got through so much work in so short a time, he answered, “Brother, I do only one thing at a time, and I do it with all my might.” Courtesy ‘The Wesley Center Online’

So we’re off to Epworth where John Wesley was born in 1703.

As in many families at the time, Wesley’s parents gave their children their early education. He had a disciplined upbringing. They were taught to read as soon as they could walk and talk. They were expected to become proficient in Latin and Greek and to have learned major portions of the New Testament by heart. They were tested daily and interviewed singularly by their mother one evening each week for the purpose of intensive spiritual instruction.

In 1714, at age 11, Wesley was sent to the Charterhouse School in London where he lived the studious, methodical and religious life in which he had been trained at home.

Later at Oxford University, John became leader of the Oxford group his brother Charles had founded called ‘The Holy Club’ – derisively dubbed ‘Methodists’ by fellow students because of their methodical approach to study and devotion.

“Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry…” Wesley said.

For some more golden chestnuts from John Wesley check out my twitter feed (in between puffs, pants and sweaty pits!) on Saturday.

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It’s written that Solomon said “diligence leads to riches as surely as haste leads to poverty”

Travelling, or indeed ‘being’, with a ‘mindful’ approach; mindful of ‘yourself’, mindful of ‘the space you inhabit’, mindful of ‘what you share’, and mindful of the ‘conflictus differentia’ that one encounters!  Travelling with ‘the traffic’ (a passenger?), is quite a different prospect to simply travelling.  Rediscover your heart beat! an ongoing, daily, or even hourly practice!