Theme: How do psychiatry and brain science help us in our relationships with each other and with God? Resource people: Allan Josephson, (Professor of Psychiatry); John Medina, (brain scientist, author of Brain Rules); Stephen Clapp (violinist from Juilliard); Sean Jackson (Juilliard-trained pianist). Laity Lodge Retreat with Buddy Greene and Rodney Reeves, June 17-20 Theme: How is God redeeming the world horizontally as well as vertically? We'll look to the book of Ephesians for answers. Resource people: Buddy Greene (singer-songwriter-teacher; wrote "Mary Did You Know" lyrics); Rodney Reeves (Dean of Courts Redford College of Theology and Ministry, Professor of Biblical Studies); Odessa Settles (performing artist). Laity Lodge Retreat with Timothy George and Chris Seay, July 8-11 Theme: A dialogue between a leading "emergent" pastor and a leading theologian and divinity school dean on questions of truth, Scripture, church, and mission. Resource people: Timothy George (theologian, author, Dean of Beeson Divinity School); Chris Seay (pastor of Ecclesia in Houston, author of several books); Ashley Cleveland (winner of three Grammy's for Christian rock); Kenny Greenberg (one of Nashville's most sought after guitarists). Our summer retreats are filling quickly, so check out our schedule and register for the retreat that is just right for you. If you have any questions, contact our Registrar, Ann Jack (AnnJack@laitylodge.org; 830-792-1230). |
Laity Lodge Retreat on the Integrated Life, June 10-13
Best of Friends?
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, March 12, 2010
Over five years ago, we got our dog, Sandy, a mellow Golden Retriever. Sandy is about a good-natured as a dog can be. She has only growled once in her life . . . when she saw a cow in the next door neighbor’s property, through our wire fence. Sandy got down on the ground and growled. Then, when the cow didn’t respond, she walked over to the cow and they sniffed each other’s noses for a while. A new friend for Sandy!
A few months after we got Sandy, Lily, a cat, joined our family. She had been on her own for a while, and had no patience for dogs. She spurned Sandy’s interest, and if Sandy got too close, Lily would put slap at her. In the photo to the left, you see the result of one of Lily’s ways of tormenting Sandy. Lily would approach her, get her attention, and then begin to run away. 
Sandy would give chase. Lily would hide under some piece of furniture where she couldn’t be reached. Sandy would lie glumly on the ground, getting an occasion slap from Lily. In the video to the right, you’ll see what happened when Sandy got too close. Though I’ve added the soundtrack, the visual is unedited.
Well, since 2005, Sandy and Lily have shared a lot of life together. Lily will still tempt Sandy to chase her. And Sandy will still fall for the trap, like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy’s football. But there are times when the two animals seem to enjoy each other’s company. Proof can be found in the undoctored photos below:
Nothing like enjoying the sun with your best friend!
Topics: Fun | 2 Comments »
“Last Tech” . . . My How Things Change!
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, March 11, 2010
On a recent Southwest airlines flight, I read a fascinating article in Spirit, the official airline magazine. “Last Tech” by Lauren Parajon (March 2010, pp. 82-92) chronicled some recent technological changes. Some of these were familiar; some were surprising. You can read the whole article here, without even buying a Southwest ticket. I’ll supply a summary for those of you who want the short version:
• Typewriter: 1873-1983
• Drinking Fountain: 1906-2007
The drinking fountain was invented 100 years ago in Berkeley, CA for sanitation.
• Blackboard: 1801-1990
• Sights of the past: ashtrays, printed photos,
video rental stores, fuel attendants (rare except in Oregon and New Jersey)
• Wine Cork: 1AD-2009
In 2009, 45% of wine bottles used synthetic “corks”; 35% used screwcaps, which is the way of the future. [Not nearly as romantic, but preserves wine better.]
• Payphone: 1889: 1995
• Mechanical bell: 600 BC-1972 [as in an alarm clock]
• Boombox: 1976-1990
• Hotel Key: 1828-1975
By 2008, 92% of urban/suburban hotels used key cards.
• Road map: 1789-1993
• Check book-1681-2002
• [Subway] Tokens: 1953-2003
• Lick-and-stick stamp: 1847-1999
• Photo film-1889-2009
So, on Southwest, not only do you get entertaining flight attendants, a little more leg room, and peanuts in addition to a drink, but also a magazine worth reading. Quite a deal!
Topics: Cultural Commentary | 1 Comment »
Now That’s What I Call Crime . . .
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Today I want to put up some excerpts from the latest police blotter as they appeared in The Boerne Star, my local newspaper. I have not changed these one iota.
March 3
3:14 p.m., 200 Market – A woman reported her ex-boyfriend was probably the one who had stolen her cell phone.
3:52 p.m., 200 Winding Path – A not-too-bright collection agent left a message on a woman’s phone saying, “I have a gun. Oops, I probably shouldn’t of said that on this ladies’ voicemail.” She turned the number he called from over to the police.
7:02 p.m., 100 W. Blanco – A caller felt a man wearing dark clothing while standing in the street taking pictures of the historic inn was in danger because she had almost hit him. He wasn’t in the road when police arrived, but they gave him some safety advice. (Photo: The same historic inn, with picture taken in safe daylight)
March 4
5:02 a.m., 700 E. Theissen – A woman asked police to investigate what someone threw in her trash that smelled really bad. Animal control was contacted to remove the dead skunk that was raising such a stink.
10:47 a.m., 31200 I-10 – A 911 hang-up call was determined to have come from a malfunctioning fax machine.
11:02 a.m., 31200 I-10 – The miscreant fax machine was at it again.
2:42 p.m., 100 Third – A man told police he was trying to leave during an argument with his wife, but she wouldn’t let him go. Then she left to cool off.
6:46 p.m. 100 Menger Springs – Police were called when a young man jumped out of an ambulance and ran away from the emergency room. He was found and returned.
Topics: Police Blotter | No Comments »
What’s Better? Anticipation or the Real Thing?
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, March 9, 2010
I read an opinion piece in USA Today that got me thinking: “We expect too much of our presidents” by William Choslovsky. I’m not so interested in the main point of the column, which is a defense of President Obama on the basis that our expectations for him were unrealistically high. (I do have to wonder, though, why presidential candidates of all stripes continue to promise the moon, even when they know they can only deliver green cheese. And I do wonder, even more, why we voters believe their promises, even when we should know better. But I’ll save these wonderings for another blog post.)
What I found most fascinating in Choslovsky’s piece was one sentence, a rhetorical flourish that reflects curious perspective on life. In context, the author is noting that Barack Obama was once as popular as a rock star. But, Choslovsky implies, he’s not so favored anymore. So what happened? Here’s Choslovsky’s answer:
What happened is he won, and Candidate Obama became President Obama. And as with most things in life, the anticipation was better than the real thing.
I was struck by the second sentence: “And as with most things in life, the anticipation was better than the real thing.”
Is this true? In most of life, do our expectations exceed reality? Is life truly a long line of disappointments?
I’ve been sorting through my life, trying to remember when anticipation was better than the real thing. There have been times when this was true. I’ll never forget my first visit to Plymouth Rock. I was expecting to see a rock big enough for a ship full of pilgrims to gather upon it for a prayer meeting. In fact, Plymouth Rock was about as big as an oversized bean bag chair. For me, the anticipation of Plymouth Rock was better than the real thing. (The only thing amazing about it was the fact that the pilgrims managed to land in 1620 on a rock that had 1620 carved into its side. Yes, I am aware that what’s left of the rock is much less than the original, and that a good part of it lies beneath the sand, and that the 1620 was probably not there when the pilgrims landed.)
There have also been times when a highly anticipated experience began as much less than I had hoped. I anticipated college to be a blast, but found myself terribly homesick in my first few months. I thought my marriage to Linda would be easy, but in fact we got off to a rocky start. I expected parenthood to be hard work, but had no idea just how hard it would really be.
You might say that, for me, in the case of college, marriage, and parenthood, anticipation was better than the real thing. But this would be utterly wrong. Yes, my first few months of college were difficult, but I ended up having a fantastic experience. Linda and I had a difficult time in the beginning of our marriage, but now, after 25 years, what I’ve experienced is immeasurably better than what I expected. And, yes, parenthood has been harder than I once realized. But the joys of parenting far, far outweigh the unanticipated challenges.
Many things in life have certainly been different from what I had anticipated. And many things have turned out to be harder than what I had expected. But, unless my memory has blotted out the bad stuff, I can honestly say that, for the most part, the real thing has been better than my anticipation. It may be true, however, that the best things in life often start out falling short of expectations, only to exceed them later on.
So what do you think? Would you agree that anticipation usually trumps reality? Or is it the other way around? Does life generally disappoint you? Or does it surprise you with unexpected grace? What in life has been for you like Plymouth Rock was for me? What in life has turned out to be much better than you thought?
Topics: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, March 7, 2010
A Cry for Help
“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he rescued them from their distress.
Psalm 107 reminds us to “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!” (107:1). The bulk of the psalm consists of four vignettes that illustrate God’s saving grace, in response to which we owe thanks and praise. Whether people were lost and hungry, or chained in gloom, or suffering from sin-induced illness, or tossed about in a stormy sea, the Lord demonstrated his “great love” by delivering them.
At the center of each vignette comes a desperate prayer: “ ‘LORD, help!’ they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress” (107:6). This sentence appears three other times in Psalm 107, with stylistic variations of the verbs “to cry out” and “to rescue.” The cry for God’s help serves as the centerpiece of a common story: people were in deep trouble; the cried to the Lord; he saved them. His response to people’s cry for help provides a foundation for praise, not only from those who received the help, but also from all of God’s people.
Psalm 107 reminds us of times when we have cried out to God in desperation and God has answered. I can remember many such times: when my children were terribly sick, or when God seemed very distant or even nonexistent, or when challenges at work overwhelmed me and sapped my strength, or. . . . I could write my own version of Psalm 107, and perhaps I should! What a timely exercise in the season of Lent.
To be sure, there are times in life when we call out to God and his answers are painfully slow or not what we would like. Many psalms deal openly with the problem of God’s apparent silence (for example, Psalms 10 and 22). Yet Psalm 107 encourages us to reflect upon the times when God’s deliverance has been obvious and miraculous. When I remember how God reached out to me when I was filled with despair, when I think of how many different ways God has rescued me, then my heart gladly accepts the call of Psalm 107: “Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.” Remembering God’s goodness to me stirs me to offer thanks and praise, to worship the Lord with all that I am.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: When have you been in a desperate situation, crying out to the Lord? What happened? Could you write a personal version of Psalm 107? What are some of the major ways you have experienced God’s grace and mercy in your life?
PRAYER: All thanks and praise be to you, O God, because you are good. Your faithful love endures forever. Yes, Lord, you have redeemed me, in the biggest way of all, in countless other ways as well.
When I found my faith waning and could not prop it up with arguments and reasons, you reached out to make yourself known to me. How I praise you for your great love!
When I struggled with deep discouragement, bound in the darkness of my hopelessness, you reassured me with your presence and rescued me from my emotional chains. How I praise you for your great love!
When I wandered away from your ways and made a mess of my life, you forgave me and helped to rebuild what I had shattered. How I praise you for your great love!
When I felt tossed about by the waves of human inconsistency, when friends betrayed me, you calmed the storms of my life, protecting me and encouraging me. How I praise you for your great love!
All praise and thanks be to you, O God, because you are good! Amen.
_________________________________________________
Would you like to receive a Daily Reflection like this one in your email inbox each morning?
Here’s how . . . .
This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org), a wonderful website about work and God. You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | No Comments »
Live Blogging Lent: With a Little Help From My Friends
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, March 5, 2010
Part 7 of series: Live Blogging Lent
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I doubt that John Lennon and Paul McCartney were thinking about Lent when they wrote: “With a Little Help From My Friends.” And I doubt Ringo Starr envisioned Lenten disciplines when he sang the song for the Beatles’ 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. But, the truth is, that our experience of Lent is enriched when we share it with friends.
To be sure, the support and partnership of Christian friends can help us in the fasting element of Lent. If someone knows of your commitment to give up something pleasurable for six weeks, that person can offer encouragement and accountability. Shared sacrifice can also help us when we are feeling tempted to abandon our fast.
Sharing Lent with others also impacts our experience besides fasting. For example, many churches host special Lenten Bible studies or worship services. These seasonal gatherings can draw our hearts to the Lord.
Last week I participated in a Lenten chapel service at the First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville, Texas, not far from the offices of Laity Lodge. The Friday noon service was simple, befitting the season, but it was not somber or gloomy. The Call to Worship based on Psalm 27 urged us to “Wait for the Lord!” The opening hymn, “My Song Is Love Unknown,” focused on the love of Christ: “Love to the loveless shown, That they might lovely be.” A moving solo of the contemporary song “Via Dolorosa” preceded my scripture reading of Philippians 3:17-4 and my short homily based on this text. (Photo: First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville, Texas.)
After the sermon, the congregation and I joined together in a stirring prayer. The bulletin explained that it was based on a fourteenth-century prayer know as Anima Christi (“Soul of Christ”). Here is that prayer:
Soul of Jesus, sanctify me.
Blood of Jesus, wash me.
Passion of Jesus, comfort me.
Wounds of Jesus, hide me.
Heart of Jesus, receive me.
Spirit of Jesus, enliven me.
Goodness of Jesus, pardon me.
Beauty of Jesus, draw me.
Humility of Jesus, humble me.
Peace of Jesus, pacify me.
Love of Jesus, inflame me.
Kingdom of Jesus, come to me.
Grace of Jesus, replenish me.
Mercy of Jesus, pity me.
Sanctity of Jesus, sanctify me.
Cross of Jesus, support me.
Nails of Jesus, hold me.
Mouth of Jesus, bless me.
Jesus, Son of God, save me. Amen.
The service concluded with the congregation singing the African-American spiritual: “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me,” followed by a benediction. Then, the worshipers gathered together for a simple lunch, a time of good food and conversation.
Last week, I “got by with a little help from my friends” at First Presbyterian in Kerrville Their chapel service reminded me of the most important Lenten friend all of. This friend is celebrated in the lyrics of “My Song is Love Unknown,” with which I close this post:
Christ came from heaven’s throne,
Salvation to bestow,
But people scorned and none,
The longed-for Christ would know.
But O my Friend,
My Friend indeed,
Who at my need his life did spend.Here might I stay and sing,
No story so divine:
Never was love, dear King,
Never was grief like Thine.
This is my Friend,
In whose sweet praise,
I all my days,
Could gladly spend.
(Verses 2 and 5 of “My Song is Love Unknown” by Samuel Crossman, 1664. public domain.)
Topics: Lent | 1 Comment »
Excellent Resources: Patheos and CHURCHandWORLD.com
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, March 4, 2010
Today I am impressed to recommend a couple of the finest online resources for material related to faith, culture, and the connection between them.
Patheos
The first resource is Patheos. Patheos is a website that seeks to offer top-notch resources having to do with a wide variety of religious traditions. I’m most familiar with the material included with the Evangelical Gateway or Portal. It is excellent. For example, today I received the latest edition of the Patheos Evangelical Portal e-newsletter. It included links to the following:
• An interview with William Stuntz, and evangelical Christian who is on the faculty of Harvard Law School, and is struggling with terminal cancer.
• An article by one of the world’s leading historians of science, called “Science vs. Christianity?”
• An article by a Christian philosopher on the topic: “Are God and Allah the Same?”
• A video lecture by Francis Collins, one of the world’s top scientists, “Learning the Language of God.”
• A sermon by John Piper, “One God, One Salvation for All.”
It’s hard to imagine a more informative and timely collection of materials by a more renowned group of Christian scholars. (Disclaimer: Some of my writings have appeared on the Patheos site, but I have not been compensated for this.)
CHURCHandWORLD.com
The second resource is CHURCHandWORLD.com. This website used to be known as Presbyweb. Now CHURCHandWORLD.com has a page of interest for Presybterians, a page for Methodists, and a page for others who are interested in religion and society. Unlike Patheos, CHURCHandWORLD.com does not put up original material or post material on its site. Rather, it provides summaries and links to significant news stories of special interest to Presbyterians, Methodists, and all Christians. This website, which is updated every day (except Sunday), always includes links to articles I have missed. The Presbyterian page is, hands down, the very best source of information on the deeds (and misdeeds) of the Presbyterian Church USA, my denomination.
Whereas Patheos supports itself through advertising, CHURCHand WORLD.com asks for a yearly subscription. $50.00 is the suggested rate, but you are free to pay less. From my point of view, what I get from CHURCHandWORLD.com is well worth the $1.00 a week subscription. (Disclaimer: Sometimes CHURCHandWORLD.com links to my blog. But I have no official or financial arrangement with this website. I would gladly recommend it even if my blog was never mentioned.)
Topics: Recommendations | No Comments »
Live Blogging Lent: Fasting from Fast? (Section 4)
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Part 6 of series: Live Blogging Lent
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Today I finish up my Lenten reflections on Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything by James Gleick. Let me begin with a quotation from the book:
Who knew that the inconvenience of old-fashioned letter-writing provided a buffer? Highway engineers learned that they could ward off freeway congestion by holding back cars at the entrance ramps, forcing them to wait at seemingly pointless red lights – for their own good, in the long run. In the same way, the unavoidable delays in volleys of business communication before fax, before FedEx, and before E-mail, served as pauses for thought. A lawyer could reconsider a rash piece of mail while it was in the stenographer’s out-box. Decisions could ferment during accidental slow periods.
Perhaps we simply have not had time to adjust. We may need to set aside formal time for deliberation, where once we used accidental time. (KL 1248-1255)
As I have illustrated from my own work experience over the last twenty-five years, the pace of communication at work has increased dramatically, owing mostly to technological innovations. When I receive an email, the sender expects a quick response. And, usually, I make a quick response. In many cases this is just fine. But sometimes my responses are too hasty. Sometimes I fail to give my thoughts the time they deserve because “faster” is part of the DNA of email.
I am generally less inclined to take time to think about my emails than I would be if I were using older forms of communication. I’m sure that, at times, this leads to superficiality and even error because I haven’t thought enough about what I really ought to write.
But I am not necessarily trapped by the email ethos of speed. I can, if I wish, decide to say “No” to hurry and “Yes” to thoughtfulness. For example, every now and then I respond to an email with a quick response that says something like this: “Thanks for your email. I want to acknowledge that I received it, but I also want to take time to digest it before I respond. If you don’t hear back from me in a week, feel free to poke me.” (Someone recently took me literally, in a digital mode, that is, by becoming a Facebook friend so she could “poke” me.)
It is hard, however, to step back from what is expected and common. If we’re used to rushing our responses and if our corporate culture expects us to hurry, then we won’t slow down unless something incisive interrupts us, inviting us to take time for deliberation and reflection. That something just might be Lent. Perhaps some of us need to fast in Lent, not from food or other pleasures, but “fast” and “faster.”
Last Saturday I was forced to slow down. I decided to burn a large pile of brush that had accumulated in my back yard. Yes, this is legal where I live in Texas. And, yes, given recent rains and the placement of my brush pile, it was quite safe. But I had never done anything like this before. When I first lit the pile, it was soon a raging inferno. I had to stand about fifteen feet back in order not to be burned. But, before long, the flames and subsided. The leaves that had collected at the bottom of the pile, and which were still quite wet from the rain, took forever to burn. They smoked and smoldered for hours.
I didn’t want to leave my burning brush for reasons of safety. So, for a while, I found jobs to do that allowed me to stay nearby. I cut down a couple of small dead trees and turned them into firewood for next winter. But after a while I ran out of chores. So I took a beach chair, placed it near the fire, and sat. I sat and sat and sat and sat.
At first I thought of all the things I wasn’t getting done. But, I reasoned, it was Lent and Lent is a time to slow down. So I sat some more. I thought. I reminisced. I prayed. And I sat. After a while, I found my internal clock slowing down. I enjoyed watching the smoke and not worrying about what I wasn’t accomplishing. I can’t remember when I sat so long just doing “nothing.” Funny, isn’t it, how I tend to think of resting, reflecting, and relaxing as doing “nothing.”
Maybe I should resolve always to burn my brush pile during Lent. It might enforce a healthy fast from fast.
Topics: Lent | No Comments »
Live Blogging Lent: Fasting from Fast? (Section 3)
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Part 5 of series: Live Blogging Lent
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Last Thursday I put up some comments about and excerpts from a book: Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything by James Gleick. On Friday I wrote about how I have experienced “faster” in my professional life, using the example of interoffice communication. I concluded by suggesting that the ability to communicate much faster with colleagues might or might not be a plus. Today I want to explain a bit further what I mean.
Take email, for example. It enables me to engage in almost instant communication with a colleague when, twenty-five years ago, a similar conversation using interoffice memos might have taken a week. This enables me and my coworkers to move projects along a quicker pace than we would have been able to do in the past. When we’re facing time pressure, this is helpful. It allows us to get more done in less time, at least some of the time.
Plus, email has led to significant cost savings. When I began my professional life, I dictated my memos, which may have saved a few minutes of keyboarding time, but not much. Then my dictated memo had to be typed and prepared for sending by a secretary. Then it had to be transported by the interoffice mail person at work. Once the recipient had received the memo, a similar process began. My guess is that at least a couple of days a month of secretarial time are no longer needed because of email. Savings like this add up over time.
But there are downsides to email, of course. Perhaps my biggest pet peeve is the time-wasting tendency of many emailers to send copies to everybody and their brother or sister. Somebody sends out an email to a dozen people that requires a response only to the sender, but half of the recipients click the “Reply All” button, filling multiple inboxes with unnecessary verbiage.
Even more dangerous, I believe, is the tendency for some people to use email as a vehicle for communicating when they are angry. This is a VERY BAD IDEA! (Yes, I am shouting. No, I am not currently angry.) During my last ten years at Irvine Presbyterian Church, I’d estimate that at least a third of church conflict was directly related to emails sent in haste when a writer was angry. And because email has a kind of anonymous, informal feeling, people sometimes say in email what they would never say in person, or even in a snail mail letter. To make matters worse, they often copy other people in the process simply because they can. This multiplies the anger and misunderstandings, turning a relatively small disagreement into a major mess. After seeing the disasters caused my rushed, angry emails, I resolved some time ago NEVER to send an email when I was angry. Mostly I’ve kept this resolution. Mostly.
There are other problems associated with email, and these bring us closer to the themes of Lent and the whole notion of fasting from “faster.” The first of these has to do with the expectations created by email. Where I once expected that it would take about a week for me to hear back from a colleague to whom I had written a memo, I now expect a response within hours, or even within minutes. A day’s lag time can be frustrating, even stirring up anger. As Gleick aptly demonstrates in Faster, when a new technology enables us to do some task more quickly, at first we are impressed and delighted. But then we adjust our expectations. We no longer enjoy the speed of the technology, but rather accept it as a given. Thus things may be moving along faster, but we’re not any happier. In fact, we might even be less happy are more stressful than in a slower day.
I first noted the way email had changed expectations in about my tenth year as Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church. I was doing a sermon series on Sabbath, and became convicted about my own tendency to work every day without a break. Yes, I had Mondays off, but I would usually work at least part of Mondays in order to get a jump on the week. God had rested for a day during the first week, and had included the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments, but for some crazy reason I felt as if I didn’t need to honor the Sabbath.
This changed as I worked through all of the biblical passages on Sabbath, including the New Testament texts that teach us to avoid legalisms that so easily become entangled with Sabbath-keeping. I realized that I needed to set apart a day in which I didn’t work (expect in emergencies). Given my family life and my unusual work patter, I decided that my Sabbath would begin on Sunday after church (usually around 1:00 p.m.) and extend for twenty-four hours (at least). I would devote one day a week to rest, prayer, family, and restoration. At least that was the plan.
One evening at the meeting of my Session (the elders and pastors of a Presbyterian church), I explained what I had been thinking and my conclusion that I needed to rest from Sunday afternoon through Monday afternoon. I told the Session that I would, of course, be available by phone in any kind of genuine emergency. And, yes, I realized that sometimes I would need to work during my Sabbath (a Sunday evening wedding, for example). But my plan was to refrain from working, and that meant, among other things, that I would not be checking email for twenty-four hours. I would do at least a quick email check on Monday evening, and make sure I had responded to everything in my inbox by Tuesday evening.
Several of the elders of my Session spoke words of affirmation. Some even thought about joining me in this adventure in resting. But several elders were distressed. “What do you mean that you’re not going to check your email?” one of them asked. I explained again what I meant. But this did not satisfy him. “How can you not check your email for a whole day? What if I send you something and need an answer?” he responded. I said it wouldn’t be easy, but it seemed like the right thing for me to do, given my understanding of Scripture. “But I can’t do that,” he said, with some anger in his voice. “My boss expects me to be available 24/7.” He pulled out his Blackberry. “I’m supposed to be checking and responding to email all the time. I can’t take a Sabbath. And I expect you to be available to us in the same way.” I told him I was sorry, but that I didn’t think I could do what he wanted from me.
I’m not sure that elder was ever satisfied with my decision to try and rest from work for a day a week. Part of his unhappiness was personal. He lived in a world that demanded his constant availability, and he resented the fact that I could choose a different way of living. But much of his unhappiness was a result simply of his expectations. He had come to expect, partly because of my own previous pattern, that I would be checking my email at least once a day, a preferably more often. Work didn’t belong simply within work hours, even if these hours stretched throughout the day for six days a week. Work claimed the whole week, or, better, it claimed us throughout the whole week, without a break. God may have rested on the Sabbath, but we can’t expect to do the same.
“Faster” (the concept, not the book) is increasingly dominating our lives, as Faster (the book) aptly demonstrates. It may have improved certain aspects of life, but at a high cost.
Lent, it seems to me, provides an opportunity for us to slow down and reflect upon our lives. It offers the chance to slow down enough to examine our pace of living. It invites us to fast, not just from enjoyable food, but from fast living.
Tomorrow I want to add one further concern that connects Faster to Lent.
Topics: Lent | No Comments »