Shalom!
Remember the old joke? In the margins of a sermon, the preacher had penciled "AWYLH," which meant "Argument weak; yell like hell."
Dan Dick writes recently in his blog about "how contentious and competitive we have become."
http://doroteos2.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/pushing-buttons/#more-2451
It is amazing to me how contentious and competitive we have become. We seem to struggle so hard with holding opposing views on important issues. Somehow everything gets boiled down to good or bad, right or wrong, smart or stupid, spiritual or worldly. Why is it we do this to ourselves? If every issue is either/or, then everything is a debate at best, or a fight at worst. All a person has to do to push another person’s hot buttons is to disagree.
What does this do when it enters spiritual community? Well, if the spiritual community is strong, it does very little. But where spiritual community is weak, it is amazingly destructive. The weaker the faith, the stronger the negative passion. People who feel assurance in their beliefs are rarely threatened by someone who disagrees with them. I find this to be especially true about ecumenical and interfaith engagement. When Christians are strong and secure in their beliefs, they joyfully and gladly engage with people of other beliefs and faiths. The weaker the personal conviction, the more hostility, distrust, disrespect, fear, and judgement define the relationship. Same goes with secular phenomena as well. Evangelicals got all up in arms about Harry Potter swaying the weak and spiritually immature. However, it seems that this was little more than projection — raising the alarm from their own weak faith. Those who were strong in their faith and intellectually rigorous saw the stories for what they are — stories. Only those who believe that the devil is as strong as, or stronger than, God had anything to fear. Doubt is not the antithesis of faith; fear is. Where people scream loudest against opponents, it is fear that motivates them, not faith.
It seems to me that we need to be strong in our trust of God, so that we do not need to yell and condemn and put down one another! One of the strengths of "the congregation" can be its mutual regard for one another as a spiritual community. Things happen in a local church that point to the unity that God offers us as a gift.
I commend Dan Dick's blog to anyone for his provocative and evocative way of bringing the reader to reflection!
Shalom!
dave
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Happy Birthday (almost), Joyful Noiseletter!
Shalom!
For many years I have subscribed to a monthly newsletter called "The Joyful Noiseletter," put out by Cal and Rose Samra in Michigan. The best features for me have been the cartoons and the jokes, and the marvelous thing about this newsletter is that subscribers can make use of much of the content in church newsletters, etc. This has been a wonderful gift to me, as I think humor is essential in our faith lives. For years my goal was to have at least two cartoons in each newsletter, and sometimes I'd use some in the weekly bulletins too, especially on Holy Humor Sunday, the Sunday after Easter.
I had only been vaguely aware of the story of this publication...until this evening, when the January 2010 issue arrived via email. (I use the electronic subscription; one can also receive a hard copy.) Cal has written a history of the last 25 years, and, since he put the history on the website, I can share it as a link:
www.joyfulnoiseletter.com/history.asp .
It's quite a story, with a lot of actors.
The annual subscription ($29, I think) is worth every penny, and you can get all that info and subscribe from the link above.
If you don't know about this grace, check it out! If your pastor isn't aware of it, check to see if she or he would appreciate a subscription. And for goodness sake, laugh!
Shalom!
dave
For many years I have subscribed to a monthly newsletter called "The Joyful Noiseletter," put out by Cal and Rose Samra in Michigan. The best features for me have been the cartoons and the jokes, and the marvelous thing about this newsletter is that subscribers can make use of much of the content in church newsletters, etc. This has been a wonderful gift to me, as I think humor is essential in our faith lives. For years my goal was to have at least two cartoons in each newsletter, and sometimes I'd use some in the weekly bulletins too, especially on Holy Humor Sunday, the Sunday after Easter.
I had only been vaguely aware of the story of this publication...until this evening, when the January 2010 issue arrived via email. (I use the electronic subscription; one can also receive a hard copy.) Cal has written a history of the last 25 years, and, since he put the history on the website, I can share it as a link:
www.joyfulnoiseletter.com/history.asp .
It's quite a story, with a lot of actors.
The annual subscription ($29, I think) is worth every penny, and you can get all that info and subscribe from the link above.
If you don't know about this grace, check it out! If your pastor isn't aware of it, check to see if she or he would appreciate a subscription. And for goodness sake, laugh!
Shalom!
dave
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Pastors: are calendars and clocks your friends or your foes?
Shalom!
Once again, the Alban Institute people offer very helpful material!
“Taking Control of Your Time: It's All About Priorities” by Bradford Agry
http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=8654
which concludes with:
Your calendar is a finite universe. Learn to prune activities that are less important to your job and your organization's mission. This may involve delegating or re-assigning tasks to others, sharing parts of the work, or perhaps making them a lower priority. If you and your colleagues are in agreement as to what the shifting set of priorities are, then all can plan accordingly. By explicitly making room and intentionally planning for the crucial items, you will begin to shift from being a purely reactive scheduler to a more proactive time manager.
“Ministers Managing Time” by Ronald D. Sisk
http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=8655
which includes
I contend that time management is best addressed sequentially, through a series of touch points that punctuate a minister's relationship with a congregation—times when mutual expectations and intentions can be shaped and spelled out. Those touch points include the negotiation of an initial contract; the establishment of a ministerial schedule; the observation of contractual vacations, holidays, and sabbaticals; the minister's daily self-management; and times of congregational change. For the most part, it is the skill with which we ministers address the issue at these critical points that determines our competence as time managers.
IMO there's much to be said for being proactive at times like appointment and annual evaluation regarding the best use of time!
Shalom!
dave
Once again, the Alban Institute people offer very helpful material!
“Taking Control of Your Time: It's All About Priorities” by Bradford Agry
http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=8654
which concludes with:
Your calendar is a finite universe. Learn to prune activities that are less important to your job and your organization's mission. This may involve delegating or re-assigning tasks to others, sharing parts of the work, or perhaps making them a lower priority. If you and your colleagues are in agreement as to what the shifting set of priorities are, then all can plan accordingly. By explicitly making room and intentionally planning for the crucial items, you will begin to shift from being a purely reactive scheduler to a more proactive time manager.
“Ministers Managing Time” by Ronald D. Sisk
http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=8655
which includes
I contend that time management is best addressed sequentially, through a series of touch points that punctuate a minister's relationship with a congregation—times when mutual expectations and intentions can be shaped and spelled out. Those touch points include the negotiation of an initial contract; the establishment of a ministerial schedule; the observation of contractual vacations, holidays, and sabbaticals; the minister's daily self-management; and times of congregational change. For the most part, it is the skill with which we ministers address the issue at these critical points that determines our competence as time managers.
IMO there's much to be said for being proactive at times like appointment and annual evaluation regarding the best use of time!
Shalom!
dave
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