Presby-Musings

Author Seth Godin has written extensively about the joy of doing good work.  He recalled a time when he was on vacation, and had spent a wonderful day at a resort in Jamaica with his family.    That evening after everyone had settled down for the night, he went to the hotel lobby where there was a computer hooked up to internet.  He settled in and was happily answering emails and doing a bit of work.  A couple walked by then and he heard the man say, "Look at that poor guy, working on his vacation."   Godin remembers thinking, "Poor guy?"  He enjoyed his work, and was happy to be doing it.  He thought about how he'd spent a wonderful day relaxing and decompressing, spending time with his family, and how much joy it brought him.   He also thought about how much joy he got from working, and considered himself blessed that both aspects of his life were joyful and life-giving.   I like to work.  I'm one of those people who wi...

There's this strange notion that a lot of people have when it comes to what they consider "spiritual" activities as opposed to "non-spiritual."  This contrast has also been described as the difference between what is "secular" and what is "sacred."   For example, going to church has often been classified as a "spiritual" or "sacred" activity, whereas meeting friends for dinner at pub is described as "secular."   Some people might take this farther and extend the descriptions to vocation.  Being a pastor, for instance, is considered by many people to be sacred vocation, whereas being a businessperson is considered secular.   I can't tell you how many times I've had conversations with people about their life of faith and they will say things to me like, "Well, I'm just a banker, not a pastor..." or "I'm only a stay at home mom, not a minister..."   Recently, I heard a ...

I am in the middle of preaching a sermon series on "happiness," or more specifically how to discover what it means to find true happiness in life. This week we are venturing into the arena of the workplace, which I think has become the unreachable and unknowable Font of Happiness for many people in our culture.  Most of us live under the mistaken impression that if we just do the right sort of work that we will find fulfillment and happiness. We have been trained by our dominant culture to believe that there is a career out there, a job, a profession that is perfect for  us.  And if we can only find that job that is perfect for  us, we will find fulfillment, we know happiness. What if we're wrong about this, though?  What if instead of thinking of "good work" as something created to give us fulfillment, we found fulfillment in the knowledge that we  were created for good work? I know.  That's pretty deep.  But even though the difference...

I'm leaving for vacation in two days.  This means that the last few weeks have been nothing but a flurry of preparation.  A flurry I tell you. Did you ever stop and wonder why you work so hard preparing to go on vacation that you spend the first two or three days of your vacation trying to recover?  And then when you get back, you work so hard you forgot that you went on vacation in the first place.  Oh, you've felt that way.  You bet your boarding pass you have, bucko. I've traveled a bit, and I've made some observations about people who aren't Americans--particularly in the way they view work and rest.  Europeans don't work like Americans work.  I don't mean to say they don't work as hard (although you might get that impression if you are out trying to shop or visit a museum after 5 PM), they just work differently.  They believe in things like family leave, shorter work weeks, longer vacations... People who aren't Americans tend to dri...