Lessons from the Tortoise and the Hare

Last week as we were praying together as a team, I felt God remind me of Aesop’s fable The Tortoise and The Hare. You probably know it already – it’s a story I heard in many primary school assemblies. It goes something like this:

A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow.

‘Do you ever get anywhere?’ he asked with a mocking laugh.

‘Yes,’ replied the Tortoise, ‘and I get there sooner than you think. I'll run you a race and prove it.’

The Hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the Tortoise, but for the fun of the thing he agreed. So the Fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and started the runners off.

The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the Tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a Hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the Tortoise should catch up.

The Tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the Hare was sleeping. But the Hare slept on very peacefully; and when at last he did wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not overtake the Tortoise in time.

Source: Library of Congress

My initial thought when this came to mind during our prayer time was that there were going to be new ways of working for the weeks ahead. That, like the tortoise who won the race, we would find a sneaky way of being extra effective in the face of the challenges of Covid-19, which seem to have taken some steam from most of us. 

As I’ve come the write this I’ve been struck that this interpretation probably reflects more the way I think about work and less the way God thinks about it. I would love to learn another ‘10 best and most counterintuitive tips for being most effective in lockdown,’ (I’m a self-confessed effectiveness junkie), but rather than using this to write these, I’ve felt God speak to me instead about the way the tortoise kept going.

Unlike the hare who needed to completely stop and fall asleep, the tortoise paced himself and had perseverance for the race. I’m reminded of Hebrews 12 where we are told to run with perseverance or endurance the race set before us. Lockdown certainly feels like a long-distance race and if we want to thrive we need to pace ourselves and make sure that the rhythm of our run matches with Jesus. When we feel like we want to speed up and try to keep all the plates spinning, what would happen if we took a leaf out of Jesus’ book (literally) and slowed our pace?

Here are a few rhythms we can put in place in our lives to keep our rhythm and make sure we are in step with Jesus.

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Daily Rhythms

Quiet time: Carving out time each day to spend reading the Bible, listening to God and praying.

The Examen: An ancient reflective practice where you go work through these five steps: 

1. Become aware of God’s presence.

2. Review the day with gratitude.

3. Pay attention to your emotions.

4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it.

5. Look toward tomorrow.

Weekly Rhythms

Sabbath: A Sabbath is a period of twenty-four hours where you rest and delight in God. It’s been part of God’s rhythm right from the creation story and if you haven’t managed to get it in your schedule yet, lockdown is the perfect time to start. 

Community: Church during this season can be strange and it can be hard to feel connected. Where we would have spent time chatting to friends over coffee, we now sit on our sofa in front of a screen. Try and find a time every week where you have community with your church family – it might look like a call with a close friend to check in or perhaps a midweek small group. It’s important we keep being part of godly community during this time. 

Monthly Rhythms

Reflection: This time seems to feel both extremely drawn out and also like a whirlwind. While so much is happening, the likelihood is that God wants to use this time to shape and form us. These questions are helpful to use every month as a way of reflecting on what might have changed. 

1.  What’s happened this month that I didn’t expect?

2. Where did I experience God particularly over this month?

3.  Where have I felt stretched? 

4. Where have I needed to lean more on God? 

5. Where have I felt far from God? 

6. If I could have told myself something at the start of this month what would it have been? 

7. What do I want to take from this month going forward?