Sabbatical S2: Episode 2
Last week I worked more finishing up projects than I actually did sabbatical, but that is the nature of my vocation and a comment on my organizational skills. There is no day like today to start off in a new direction. One of the things I did pre-season two, was listen to my entire Springsteen collection. That was privileged time. Thanks to Steve Jobs, I can take most of my music collection with me anywhere, but there is something mystical about sitting and absorbing the music, poetry, or prose that opens portals in time. It is more than escapism.
One of last week’s Sightings from the Martin Marty Center spoke of Springsteen and his one person Broadway show offering this summation.
“Springsteen on Broadway” is labeled by the artist as “my long and noisy prayer.” It asks for us to be redeemed, and for America to climb back up from its tragic fall. We must name our failings and fully accept their depth within us. We can then reclaim our birthplace and our most deeply-rooted values.
[Ron Malzer, “Springsteen’s Promised Land (It’s Not What You Think)”. Sightings, March 28, 2019]
Maybe part of sabbatical is discovering deeply rooted values, again. I often suggest to congregations that sabbatical time is an opportunity for their minister to rediscover the “why” of their call to ministry. The ’80’s rock-n-roll group Journey focuses on the work of relationships with this lyric, “I get the joy of rediscovering you.” The first year I served in Regional ministry I listened to the song, “Faithfully,” many times as my companion and I adjusted to a different ministry lifestyle. We are a clergy couple with our own visions of what ministry means, how to best serve, and have different ways of working. We’ve only served together as summer camp directors. We don’t ever see ourselves serving a local congregation together. We knew when we married almost thirty years ago that we wanted home to be home, and try as we do, sometimes home becomes an extension of work. It is just part of it. Even now, eighteen years after I began serving in Regional ministry we have mostly adjusted to this lifestyle (clergy couple – seminary professor and associate regional minister). We are rarely seen in the same place together and some ask, “Are you ever home at the same time?” The entire verse speaks a truth that we manage better.
Through space and time
Journey. “Faithfully.” Frontiers, Columbia Records 1983, track 5. Lyricsfreak, https://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/journey/faithfully_20075719.html.
Always another show
Wondering where I am lost without you
And being apart ain’t easy on this love affair
Two strangers learn to fall in love again
I get the joy of rediscovering you
Oh girl
You stand by me
I’m forever yours
Faithfully
This lyric speaks a truth about serving in Christian ministry. In my denomination, the ordination vows a minister takes on reminds the one being ordained that “God who called you is faithful.” That is a statement of faith as well as an idealism. O Lord, please stand by me or at least stand with me. You know . . . footprints.
The “Smarter Living” section of the New York Times did a week of articles on productivity, procrastination, precrastination, and work habits. When asked, I speak of my work habits by what has my attention or most of my attention. I divide up my week and day based on what needs my attention. This article helps explain my attention driven work habits: “Productivity Isn’t About Time Management. It’s About Attention Management.”
Attention management is the art of focusing on getting things done for the right reasons, in the right places and at the right moments.
[Adam Grant, “Productivity Isn’t About Time Management. It’s About Attention Management.” March 28, 2019. NYTimes.com https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/smarter-living/productivity-isnt-about-time-management-its-about-attention-management.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share]
Oddly, the marketing guy I follow, Seth God, posted this yesterday.
Busy is not the point.
There’s a common safe place: Being busy.
Seth Godin, “Busy is not the point.” March 31, 2019
We’re supposed to give you a pass because you were full on, all day. Frantically moving from one thing to the other, never pausing to catch your breath, and now you’re exhausted.
No points for busy.
Points for successful prioritization. Points for efficiency and productivity. Points for doing work that matters.
No points for busy.
I remind high school students that “busy does not mean successful.” You are going to make choices. Be intentional about your choices. Clergy can have issues balancing the call to ministry and the call to life outside of ministry. I will revisit what has my attention or to what I give my attention during Season 2. My reading so far of iGen notes that our devices, specifically smart phones, have become pellet dispensers of identity, approval or disapproval, through social media. A digital existence is a choice, not yet a requirement, for participating in modern society. Why do I give it my attention? For whom am I posting?
Deep rooted values. Through space and time. No points for busy.