Take It Easy
Lessons from sabbatical
As I continue to re-enter ministry work after sabbatical, I’m trying to be thoughtful about what to take on and how much of it to do. I wish this were easily calibrated, like locking in coordinates, turning on self-driving mode, and kicking back. Instead it’s a constant game of tinkering: digging into projects because you have the capacity, only to fill your schedule with too much and have to throw stuff overboard, whether intentionally or by letting stuff fall through the cracks.
As I do this balancing, I’m guided by two words–two ideas. I thought I’d share one with you this week and the other next week. (A Blue Room series!)
The first word is ease.
As a child, my father taught me how to use basic tools, and he always cautioned me never to force anything mechanical. If I found myself needing to exert more force than seemed appropriate to the task, it probably meant something wasn’t quite right (the screw wasn’t straight; the nail was hitting metal), and if I persisted, I was liable to break something.
Ease in everyday life means not forcing things. Yes, life involves toil. But we often make it harder through our own stubborn brute-force efforts, our refusal to ride the flow when it’s offered. Many of you know our eldest daughter Caroline had an unusual high school experience–an extended mental-health leave of absence, followed by the pandemic. At one point we were trying to figure out how to shoehorn a required class into a summer session, which was proving logistically complicated in a bunch of different ways. We worked that problem for days and days until one of us said, “Maybe this isn’t supposed to happen this way.” Almost instantly, we felt relieved, but not just relieved. The future felt expansively, graciously possible. Other solutions appeared that fit much better.
One of the gifts of this summer was watching so much of the world go on without any exertion on my part. I’m now working on sailing when I can and rowing only as much as necessary. This one’s really hard for me as a strong-willed person who likes to make things happen. Here’s how that’s looking for me in practice right now:
Even if I could make a complicated schedule work by moving around X and Y, I’m trying to resist the urge and let things be.
Accepting a good-enough effort as “done” when it’s time to rest or play or relate, rather than compromise those essential activities. (Just typing that gives me hives, to be honest.)
Or the other side: when a project or idea comes easily to me, my tendency is to distrust it: I must be missing something; this is supposed to be hard. Ease means: maybe I’ve been at this work long enough, and the universe is generous enough, that not everything has to be sweated over! (This idea came up in a coaching session just yesterday, when a client dropped the phrase “oppressive obligation of the Protestant work ethic.” Well… that is a whole word.)
Next week I’ll share the other guidance I’m playing with, but in the meantime: what does ease mean to you? How are you feeling invited to lean into it?
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What I’m Up To
The next two weeks I’ll be with the Association of Mid-Council Leaders and Association of Stated Clerks of the Presbyterian Church (USA), co-leading two successive weeks with my friend and improv buddy Marthame Sanders. As if to celebrate, Marthame recently posted an encore of our 2017 conversation on his podcast, aijcast (art, inspiration, justice).
My presentation for the Faith+Lead Book Hub about hope in addiction, recovery, illness, and exhaustion is here.
My sermon from last Sunday at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Herndon is here (an encore presentation, re-recorded because the livestream went down).
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Wee Book Nook
(An occasional feature when I have news to share about Hope: A User’s Manual)
My friend Paul Lutter reflected on hope and Christian faith in this lovely meditation.
Also, a group guide is coming! I’m thrilled to report that we’ve identified a wonderfully talented writer who’s going to put together a downloadable guide for Sunday School classes, book clubs, and other groups wanting to read the book together! More about her later, but it should be available in November. I know some of you have already started group discussions though. If you have suggestions or feedback to help flesh out that resource, get in touch!
Steady on.