Doodle on a Lunch Bag #3

"Do Nothing to Change Your Life"
Story found at Church House Publishing

In London, the Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, the Bishop of Reading, is known to stop commuters in their tracks as he hands out egg timers at his local mainline train station with this challenge: take three minutes of silence a day to transform your life.

Bishop Stephen is urging the country to discover what happens when we simply stop and rest, in a passionate plea for the nation to ditch endless ‘to do’ lists, constant streams of emails, and an increasingly ‘24/7’ culture.

Instead, by binning instant tea and coffee in favor of traditional methods that create time for reflection during their preparation, appointing a ‘happy hour’ when all televisions and radios in the house are switched off, baking bread, or simply enjoying a lengthy lie-in, the bishop’s book encourages readers to appreciate the need to create pauses in daily life – for our own, and society’s, health and wellbeing.

Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell tells people to take daily opportunities to just pause, wait and ponder. He argues that taking such ‘time out’ can help kick start an adventure of self-discovery and creativity that could transform the way we see life. For Christians, he argues, this fresh perspective of relishing every moment with a greater attentiveness will improve our relationship with God.

Following news that an international study has shown that the pace of life in our cities has increased by 10 per cent in the last decade, the bishop’s warning about the danger of not taking rest and play seriously is a timely one.

Bishop Stephen criticises ‘time saving devices’ as simply escalating the expectations upon us to cram more into each day; and suggests that “By learning to sit still, slow down, by discerning when to shut up and when to speak out, you learn to travel through life differently. There is new delight and purpose in the mundane and the ordinary things of life. Making tea becomes a treat. Travelling to work an adventure.”


Biship Stephen has even written a pocket size book called "Do Nothing to Save Your Life", but so far I've only found it available in London England or online at this site.

If you can find it available in the U.S. market, please let us know.