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Go.

The speed of joy is balanced.

Timeless.

Fruitful.

Inspiring.

Natural.

Hi, I'm Matthew Kelly, and welcome back to Best Advent Ever. If you don't read the book, I want to challenge you just to read one section. It begins on page 37. It's five pages long. And I still get chills when I think about it. Last night I was preparing to visit with you today. I was revisiting this section. I just get this chill right up my back when I think about it. It reflects a time in my life when God really slapped me out the side of the head and said like, "Get act together. You are not thinking straight." It's one of those things that's so clear when we think about it, but it's so easy to never think about. Would it surprise you to discover that a great mandate has been placed upon your life? Five years ago, when I began slowing down and trying to unravel the insanity of my own busy life, there was one realization that destroyed all my excuses and justifications. A great mandate has been placed on my life. That was the realization that created a moment of exceptional clarity. The same great mandate has been placed on your life.

What is a mandate? A mandate is a directive issued by someone with due authority that commands, instructs, or commissions a person to carry out a specific task, responsibility, or duty. When I read this description of a mandate, I see so much of what our culture rejects, avoids, resists, and despises. Authority, being told what to do, personal responsibility, and duty. It should therefore be no surprise we are struggling to live out the mandate. Love is the mandate of my God. In a single quiet moment, sitting in my office at home, looking across the field, I was confronted by these uncomfortable truths. The speed of my life was incongruent with love, and the busyness of my life was incompatible with love. I think about this, and I had spent my whole adult life trying to serve God and His people. And then to have these two truths come crashing down upon me.

What are the two truths? The two truths is that the speed of my life was incongruent with love, and the busyness of my life was incompatible with love. My life was incompatible with love. Why? Because you can't rush it. You can't rush love. You can't say, "Oh, yes. I love my teenage daughter, but I've only got five minutes for her, even though she's got this huge problem." No, that conversation takes as long as it takes. Love can only happen at the speed of joy. And to realize that our lives are incompatible with love, which is the great mandate that has been placed upon our lives. To realize that our lives, the busyness and the speed of our lives, incongruent with the whole mandate, is a shocking revelation. It was a shocking revelation for me. And one that really—I mean, it stopped me in my tracks. It is one of the great turning points in my life. And at the time, it was really a frightful moment. But today, I look back on it with great joy and with great gratitude, incredible gratitude. But we find ourselves in a conundrum as modern Christians when it comes to the speed and busyness that dominate our lives. The speed of our lives is unchristian. The busyness of our lives is unchristian. They prevent us from fulfilling the great human mandate to love wholeheartedly. The busyness of my life was unchristian. Speed of my life. Not a day or a week, a month, or a year, but the speed of my life for decades had been unchristian.

That is the conundrum we find ourselves in as modern Christians, in the midst of a culture that is insanely busy, that is insanely fast. It's not good for our souls. It's creating a sickness in our souls. It's destroying us. It is absolutely time to slow down to the speed of joy. I hope you're enjoying the endeavor, made possible by the Ambassadors Club, along with just about everything we do at Dynamic Catholic. If you're not a member yet, I encourage you to become a member today, to really pray about that. Click the button below, choose your welcome gift. My favorite is this new box set of <em>Rediscover Catholicism</em> and <em>The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic</em>. The team did an exquisite job. It's just beautiful. That's my favorite welcome gift at the moment. But encourage you to become an Ambassador today. Have a great day. And remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.

Thank you, Ambassadors. You are changing the world. See you tomorrow.

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Have a great day. Have a great day.

Bye-bye.

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Have a great day.

Come on.

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Have a great day. Bye-bye.

Simon, come sit.

I love you.

Have a great day.

Have a great day.

Come sit.

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Have a great day.

See you next time. Bye. Have a great day.