Shifting gears
15/08/16 05:01
The balance of work and recreation is more than just a response to our desire to play, which itself is not a bad thing. Study after study has demonstrated that efficiency increases when workers are allowed sufficient time for rest and renewal. The long hours and short vacations that are common among United States workers don’t yield the greatest productivity. You can read comparative studies about worker productivity in Germany and the United States that might change your thinking about how many hours per week are best for the overall economy. But this blog post isn’t going to make that argument.
We stand in a long spiritual tradition that honors time for rest and recreation. For thousands of years our people have noticed our tendency to ignore recreation time. That is why after the commandments about having only one God and making no false images of God the commandment about Sabbath is explained more carefully than most of the other commandments. The failure to give enough time for recreation is a form of idolatry - of worshiping the wrong god. What happens is that we convince ourselves that we are greater than God, who rested on the seventh day, when we think that we don’t need rest.
This theological dilemma is one to which ministers are especially prone. We work every weekend and we convince ourselves that while many others use their weekends for recreation, a day off a week is sufficient for our needs. We consider ourselves to be able to work more and play less than others. This is a common practice among people of all different jobs. Routinely working 60 or more hours a week occurs among many different professions. There is a big difference between a person holding down two minimum wage jobs in order to survive and a professional who chooses to work long hours. The former has no illusions about their indispensability or their prowess. They work long hours because they see no alternative. The rest of us, however, do harbor illusions of grandeur, convincing ourselves that we are needed and that if we worked fewer hours each week everything would fall apart.
Ministers’ vacations are a whole lot about getting our lives back into perspective. It isn’t an easy challenge.
So for the next couple of weeks, this blog is going to shift. It will be part travelogue as we journey from South Dakota to Montana and linger there for a while and then go on to Washington for a brief visit before turning toward home. I’ll be posting at different times of the day depending on Internet access. Part of the blog will also be reflections on recreation and what we do to recharge for the next phase of our ministry in the congregation.
Yesterday, being Sunday, we had our regular worship in the morning. In the afternoon we packed up and took the short drive to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming where we are camping overnight. We’ll do a bit of exploring here before heading out for my home town in Montana today. I frequently make the entire drive from Rapid City to my home in a single day, but this time we intentionally broke it into two pieces to begin the process of slowing down and taking a closer look at things. Some of the roads we drove yesterday and some of the roads we’ll drive today are a bit slower than our typical pace. Slowing down is an important aspect of vacation for me.
At the moment, my mind is stirring with tasks that need to be done at the church, deadlines and other things. It will take me a few days to release some of those things and get on with my vacation. A few of them will require some phone calls or emails in the early days of my travel so that I will be able to separate myself from the details of work. I’m used to being willing to do a lot of different chores. I’m not as good about delegating as I wish. I work hard to make others look good. All of those traits help me to succeed in the work I do, but also make it harder for me to truly take time for rest and recreation.
The days when it feels like I’m the only one who knows how to keep the church running should be a warning to me of the changes that need to occur. Before the time of the judges Moses convinced himself that he was the only one who could lead the rag tag bunch of former slaves that God had chosen for a new life of freedom. God had to show him otherwise. It is no different for me. Sometimes God has to show me otherwise before I remember that I am human and that the church is far more robust and resilient than I think. God will provide the leadership that is required when we act in faith and allow that leadership to emerge.
We were gifted with a glorious sunset last night. As we sat with friends sipping tea in the cool of the evening I began to relax. I know it will take a little while for me to change my pace. I forgot and left my alarm on to wake me this morning, but that will be changed tomorrow. Waiting for the light to be just right for a few photographs of the tower was a delight. I don’t often simply sit and wait. I’m too quick to pull out my phone and check my email or add to my “to do” list. But last night I was able to just watch the changing color of the sky. It might be the first in a series of sunsets and sunrises that get extra attention from me.
So sit back and relax and watch me try to do the same. This vacation promises to have much to teach me if I am willing to learn from it.