Cultivating Habits of Grace
A Feature Review of
The Speed of Soul: Four Rhythms for a Quiet Life in a World of Noise
Tommy Brown
Paperback: NavPress, 2025
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Reviewed by Brent D. Neeley
In The Speed of Soul, Tommy Brown offers his readers an invitation to slow down. At a time when our days are defined by distraction and the constant demand to produce, Brown asks an important question: How do we slow down? This book, published by NavPress in early October, explores how to recover what has been lost in our modern rush, namely, peace, meaning, and the capacity to love deeply.
The subtitle, Four Rhythms for a Quiet Life in a World of Noise, sets the focus of the book. Drawing from Paul’s “wisdom circle” in 1 Thessalonians to “love one another, aspire to live quietly, mind your own affairs, and work with your hands,” Brown builds his vision around these four rhythms: love deeply, live quietly, mind your own affairs, and work with your hands. Each rhythm offers both spiritual guidance and practical wisdom for those who sense their lives are moving more rapidly than their souls can handle.
Brown begins by diagnosing the spiritual condition of our age: we are harried. One of the book’s most memorable lines captures it well: “Harried is having more month than money, more commitments than calendar space, more stress than peace, more work than sleep, more and more and more. Always more” (2). The harried soul, he argues, is not simply busy; it is fragmented. It is pulled in too many directions to experience the peace and presence that mark a deeply rooted life.
The first rhythm, love deeply, grounds the entire project. Love, for Brown, is not sentimentality or mere affection but sustained presence. It is a sibling love that goes beyond familial relationships to all those around us. To love deeply is to be fully attentive to another, to see and be seen, to give time, attention, and empathy. Our culture prizes efficiency, so a love such as this can feel costly. Yet Brown insists it is the only pace at which the soul truly thrives.
From there, he turns to the rhythm of living quietly. In a world obsessed with noise, notoriety, and self-promotion, this is incredibly difficult to practice. Living quietly is not withdrawal or indifference, but a deliberate choice to cultivate peace through simplicity. It is the choice to trust that significance is not measured by visibility. Brown’s tone throughout is pastoral as he realizes how difficult this is for many. He does not shame readers for their restlessness but gently invites us toward stillness, describing quietness as a kind of resistance, a rebellion against the tyranny of hurry.
The third rhythm, mind your own affairs, may sound almost unspiritual, but Brown draws out its surprising depth. To mind one’s own affairs is not selfishness; it is about integrity and focus. It means tending to one’s vocation, family, and spiritual life rather than being consumed by comparison or competition. In the social media age, where everyone’s achievements and opinions are on display, this rhythm helps to quiet our souls. Brown encourages readers to withdraw from the endless cycle of comparison and to rediscover the joy of doing the small things faithfully. It is a reminder that humility and attention to our own callings are forms of love.
The final rhythm, work with your hands, brings the vision down to earth. Brown reclaims the dignity of manual, tangible work– any work that connects us to creation, and community. It is this chapter that I struggled the most with as I read. Not everyone enjoys working with their hands and for many it feels draining. I wonder if it would not have been better at this point to draw away from Paul’s language and instead label this part as “Find Ways to Create.” When we take part in creating something it grounds us in the present moment and helps us remember that God’s creation is good. It can become an act of worship, instead of a means of productivity. It is a connection with the Creator. The rhythm of work thus completes the cycle of love, quietness, and focus; it is where spiritual life takes physical form.
What makes The Speed of Soul particularly effective is its accessibility. At just over 140 pages, it reads more like a conversation than an instruction manual. Brown uses a simple and reflective tone. This approach makes the book ideal for small groups, retreats, or personal devotion. Readers who are weary, burned out, or spiritually scattered will likely find it a balm.
The book’s brevity, however, is also its limitation. His ideal of a “quiet life” assumes, to some extent, that readers have the freedom to rearrange their schedules, simplify their commitments, or choose meaningful work. For several the path to quietness may be more complex than the book makes it seem. Still, Brown’s tone remains compassionate, never naïve. His aim is not to prescribe one way of living but to awaken longing for a different pace.
There are echoes here of writers like Eugene Peterson and Dallas Willard, who have all written about the spiritual dangers of hurry. Brown’s contribution lies in his framing of these ancient insights within the four rhythms drawn from Scripture. While the content may not be radically new, the clarity and simplicity of his structure make it approachable. Readers who have encountered similar themes will still find refreshment in Brown’s language and pastoral warmth.
Stylistically, Brown balances biblical reflection with cultural commentary. He recognizes that our souls are not only distracted by sin but also by systems—technological, economic, and social—that reward speed and visibility. His critique is gentle but incisive. Against this, he proposes rhythms that are counter-cultural yet profoundly human. The life of the soul, he insists, cannot keep pace with algorithms or productivity metrics. It moves at the speed of love, relationship, and presence.
The book’s heart can be summed up in another of Brown’s concise insights: “find your center and escape the harried life” (5). Many cannot escape busy lives, but they can nurture a soul that remains centered, calm, and attentive amid the noise. Brown’s four rhythms become not rules but habits of grace, ways of tuning the inner life to God’s tempo.
Brown’s prose is unhurried, even spacious, as if the book itself practices what it preaches. It offers no quick fixes, only rhythms to be lived into slowly. The simplicity of its wisdom gives it staying power: love deeply, live quietly, mind your own affairs, and work with your hands. These are not glamorous or novel ideas, but they are enduring ones.
In a culture where speed is confused with significance, Brown reminds us that the most meaningful things in life, such as love, joy, peace, presence, cannot be rushed. They unfold at the speed of the soul, which is always slower than the speed of the world around us. For readers weary of the noise, The Speed of Soul offers something rare: permission to slow down, breathe, and rediscover the quiet grace of being fully alive.
Brent D. Neely
Brent D. Neely is a pastor, hospice chaplain, and writer. He is the author The Book of Ancient Prayers and The Face of Christ. You can find more of his writings at The Luminous Scriptorium. When not writing or working, you can find him spending time with his wife Annie, and two chubby kitties.
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