It's a word I've been hearing a lot this last week - a week in which physical and mental exhaustion has loomed ever larger and my ratty levels have been getting higher and higher.
So here it is. On the one hand I really enjoy, and feed on, the banter, disagreement, playfulness, profundity and even banality of the stuff that floats around cyberspace. On the other hand I am constantly challenged by questions of justice, of poverty, of what it really means to be a disicple of Jesus. But on the other hand... (its OK my Jewish ancestry allows me more than two hands with which to weigh things up!).
On the one hand, by UK standards I have a modest income, work long hours, and live a fairly basic lifestyle. On the other hand by world standards I have an enormous income, enviable freedom and live in luxury.
On the one hand I am enjoying researching academic theology and believe that one day it will have a practical outworking. On the other hand there are the day to day practicalities of attempting to lead a small congregation through humungous (spelling?) transition at a time when daily more people hit major personal crises.
On the one hand is a call to lead a church, on the other to care for them, and on the third (!) to be their servant. How do I reconcile being paid by people with needing to challenge them about disicpleship? How much does one who pays the piper have the right to call the tune?
Finding balance is incredibly tricky, and I am really bad at it! I think that life is so incredibly complicated that I could send myself insane trying to work out just what I ought to worry about. So instead I plod on doing the best I can and every now and then needing a little splenic venting!
I suspect I will spend the rest of my life trying to find this balance, and never finally succeed. Maybe being aware of the questions is a step in the right direction? Any thoughts from those who manage it better than I?
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I could hardly claim to be better at managing my time than you, because at the end of the day I'm pretty poor at doing it. I do set certain times aside if you ring me between 7-9am and 5-7pm I probably won't answer (I do have caller display so if you rang I would probably look at the 01162 number and decide to answer).
I often set myself limits: "At 3:00pm I'm going to move on". I also work in different rooms to stop myself getting distracted. I like the local Library.
Problogger did a series a few years ago on how he manages his time, which was very good.
As an aside, it might be worth rescheduling your study week for a time when you can have a proper study week. The church secretary here would be telling me to reschedule, if I had done in my study week what you did in yours!
Hi Graham,
thanks for these thoughts. I don't have caller display but do hide behind my answerphone at certain times/days. Alas my general philosophy that before 9a.m. or after 9 p.m must be urgent is not widely shared! On the whole I'm fairly good at time management it's just that recently a whole pile of "Wednesdays" (or whatever day it is) arrived at once
I have to assume that your congregation functions rather differently from mine in relation to scheduling, let along rescheduling. Most of my folk cannot grasp why any minister would want to study anything even if they do write a week's study leave into terms of settlement.
One of the best speakers I heard on the challenge of balance in ministerial life was Alastair Brown at the BWA in Brm. His reflection on 1 Kings 19 and courageous personal sharing was very helpful. Maybe I need to go a bit further and go out in search of someone with 12 yoke of oxen this week... (1 Kings 19: 19)?!