Book of the Month - December 2025
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
John Mark Comer - ISBN: 978-0525653097 - 2019
Author:
John Mark Comer
John Mark Comer is the New York Times bestselling author of Practicing the Way, Live No Lies, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, God Has a Name, and three more. His podcasts, John Mark Comer Teachings and Rule of Life, have been ranked on top religion and spirituality podcast charts in the U.S. and U.K.
He's also the Founder and Teacher of Practicing the Way, a simple, beautiful way to integrate spiritual formation into your church or small group. Prior to starting Practicing the Way, he spent almost twenty years pastoring Bridgetown Church in Portland, OR, and working out apprenticeship to Jesus in the post-Christian West. He lives in Los Angeles.
Brief Synopsis:
“Who am I becoming?”
That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words:
“Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.”
It wasn’t the response he expected, but it was—and continues to be—the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil.
Within the pages of this book, you’ll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.
Insights:
“The Hebrew word Shabbat means ‘to stop.’ But it can also be translated ‘to delight.’ It has this dual idea of stopping and also of joying in God and our lives in his world. The Sabbath is an entire day set aside to follow God’s example, to stop and delight.”
“Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. There’s truth in that. Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.”
“Here’s my point: the solution to an overbusy life is not more time. It’s to slow down and simplify our lives around what really matters.”
“Attention is the beginning of devotion.”
Should I read it or skip it?
John Mark Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry feels like someone finally grabbing your shoulder, looking you in the eyes, and saying, “Hey… slow down. Your soul can’t live like this.” Comer writes out of his own burnout, not theory, which makes the whole book feel less like a lecture and more like a friend saying, “I’ve been there too.”
You can hear Dallas Willard in every chapter. He’s the quiet mentor behind the scenes—the one who first told John Ortberg (and now the rest of us) to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives. Comer basically takes that one line and builds a whole, gentle discipleship plan around it. And honestly, it works.
One thing that surprised me—in a good way—is how many voices Comer pulls from across Christian traditions. He quotes Scripture constantly, but he also brings in people like Thomas Merton and other Trappist monks, along with Henri Nouwen and a handful of contemplatives. He’s not trying to blend all their theology; he’s borrowing the rhythms that formed them. Turns out, slowing down is something the church used to practice really well. We just got too busy to remember.
The book itself feels unhurried. It’s simple, honest, and full of good stories. Comer talks about Sabbath, silence, simplicity, and solitude in ways that feel doable—not like adding another spiritual chore to your already overloaded schedule.
And here’s the part that made me laugh at myself: I listened to the audiobook at 1.25x speed. Nothing like speeding up a book about slowing down to remind you how deep the problem goes.
If you’re tired, distracted, stretched thin, or just aware that your pace of life doesn’t match the way of Jesus, this book is worth your time. Comer doesn’t shame you. He just points you back to a quieter, healthier way of living with God—a way our souls were actually built for.
Bottom line: It’s a needed reminder that following Jesus isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing life with Him—and that requires slowing down long enough to notice He’s already there.
