Bishop's Advice to Burnt-Out Nation: 'Do Nothing'

The Bishop of Reading, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, stopped commuters in their tracks yesterday as he handed out egg timers at his local mainline train station.

Bishop Cottrell 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 e-mails, and an increasingly '24/7' culture.

As he handed out the egg timers yesterday, Bishop Cottrell challenged passers-by to take three minutes of silence a day to transform their lives

Bishop Cottrell appealed to the nation to bin instant tea and coffee in favour of traditional methods that create time for reflection during their preparation.

He advises people to set aside a 'happy hour' when all televisions and radios in the house are switched off, time for baking bread, or to simply enjoying a lengthy lie-in in his new book Do Nothing to Change Your Life.

The bishop's book encourages readers to appreciate the need to create pauses in daily life - for the health and well-being of the individual and society as a whole.

In Do Nothing to Change Your Life, the Bishop Cottrell urges readers 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.

The bishop's warning about the danger of not taking rest and play seriously is a timely one in light of an international study by the University of Hertfordshire which recently concluded that the pace of life in our cities has increased by 10 per cent in the last decade.

In the book, Bishop Cottrell criticises 'time saving devices' as simply escalating the expectations upon us to cram more into each day.

"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," he said. "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."

The pocket-sized book does not offer 'quick fixes', but instead guides readers towards a fresh perspective on time, one that experiences each moment as a new delight - and literally offers busy people a 'pause for thought'.