Gradually, Then Suddenly
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, -Proverbs 6:10
Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “How did you go bankrupt? Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” The line comes from The Sun Also Rises, where Mike Campbell explains his money troubles to his friend, Bill. But it could have just as easily come from the Proverbs.
In 6:10 we read of a sluggard who begs for “five more minutes”. He’s only asking for a little sleep. It’s only a little more slumber and then he’ll be up and at up. Watch him as he folds his hands—unable to work—and drifts off into sleep. Five minutes. Then ten. Now he’s been out for an hour.
I don’t think this proverb is only talking about sleep. We Westerners, who have no concept of Sabbath, will be prone to read this wrongly. Slothfulness or slumber is when we are doing something other than what the moment calls for. Here, the moment is calling for waking up and being engaged in work. But the “lazy bones” is kicking the can down the road—he’s delaying work.
Rejecting the wisdom of this proverb doesn’t require a tour of the Land of Nod. We are rejecting this wisdom when we spend “just five more minutes” scrolling through our phone, or playing just one more game of Angry Birds instead of engaging the moment. This proverb is telling us that little moments add up.
I had a deacon once encourage me to keep an eye on my weight. (This wasn’t in a chiding way. He was 80 years old and just giving me some general life advice). That’s never really been an issue for me. I think I weighed a whopping 130 pounds when I was married twenty years ago. Today, I’m at about 190. I’m actually slightly overweight now. It’s nothing too concerning but my deacon is correct. What’s five pounds per year? Not much. But if I do that for the next 10 years, I’ll be pushing 240. That is concerning.
How’d you get overweight? Gradually, then suddenly.
There are 156,680 hours in eighteen years. The average internet user spends an average of 2.5 hours on social media platforms per day. That is a little over 10% of those eighteen years. That means that if you have a child who lives in the home until the age of 18, and you consume the average 2.5 hours of social media, you will have spent almost two years of that child’s life on social media instead of engaged with them.
How’d you lose your kids? Gradually, then suddenly.