Writing in the October/November 1998 issue of Carolina Mountain Living Timothy M. Smith remarked on the strange fact that towns put up signs “No Loitering!” He says “The problem is…that we’re already moving too fast.” Some cities have put up signs on entrance ramps that command “Keep Moving.” But those who grew up in small rural communities remember people who had turned loafing into an art form. They could sit for hours on a bench at the country store and just think; or maybe, just sit. In this hurry up and keep moving age, should we not consider the advice of a folk poet who wrote:

Slow me down Lord!
I’m movin’ too fast!
I can’t see my brother
When he’s walkin’ past.

-Robert Shannon, Preaching March/April 1999

Share this content with your peers!