II

Hurry, the Scourge of America



The first sermon in the world was preached at the Creation. It was a
Divine protest against Hurry. It was a Divine object lesson of perfect
law, perfect plan, perfect order, perfect method. Six days of work
carefully planned, scheduled and completed were followed by,--rest.
Whether we accept the story as literal or as figurative, as the account
of successive days or of ages comprising millions of years, matters
little if we but learn the lesson.

Nature is very un-American. Nature never hurries. Every phase of her
working shows plan, calmness, reliability, and the absence of hurry.
Hurry always implies lack of definite method, confusion, impatience of
slow growth. The Tower of Babel, the world's first skyscraper, was a
failure because of hurry. The workers mistook their arrogant ambition
for inspiration. They had too many builders,--and no architect. They
thought to make up the lack of a head by a superfluity of hands. This
is a characteristic of Hurry. It seeks ever to make energy a substitute
for a clearly defined plan,--the result is ever as hopeless as trying
to transform a hobby-horse into a real steed by brisk riding.

Hurry is a counterfeit of haste. Haste has an ideal, a distinct aim to
be realized by the quickest, direct methods. Haste has a single compass