Yesterday afternoon, in conversation with Mandy about how my
week was going, I said the phrase, “I’ve
done nothing all week.” That was both a true and false statement. Let me
explain.
The first two days of my work-week had been constantly
hijacked by life. Watching kids who were off from school, multiple parent-teacher
conferences, playing basketball, attending Mandy’s opera rehearsals, running
errands, cleaning the house. Lots of activity…minimal ‘work.’
And even the actual work I did all took much longer than
expected. A quick lunch turned into two hours at the restaurant, a training event
unexpectedly turned into a networking opportunity, and some unexpected news from
an unexpected source meant a two-hour trip to visit two of our homebound
members.
So, by Tuesday afternoon, the weekly email hadn’t been sent,
no worship had been planned, and my sermon wasn’t started. Nothing had been
crossed off my to-do list…thus, I had done nothing.
But think about what I’m calling ‘nothing.’ I sat across the
table from one of our new members and heard about his life, work, hobbies, and
faith for two hours…what a sacred privilege. I sat in the room of a dear,
faithful woman and helped her grieve the death of her son…what a sacred privilege.
I sat with one of our long-time, faithful members as she told stories about her
life, family, work, and adventures…what a sacred privilege.
So, while none of those things were on my to-do list when
the week began, they most certainly were work—and sacred, pastoral work, at
that. I wasn’t very productive, I didn’t get my tasks accomplished, and I still
have a lot of work to do this week, but I most-certainly haven’t done ‘nothing.’
And, in case you haven’t picked up on it yet, my point is
that we too often focus on what we’re
doing or how much we accomplish,
while neglecting who we’re with and how we are with them. I’ve been
reminded, this week, that relational work matters way more in the Kingdom of
God than the tasks we accomplish or the things we produce. Who we are is more
important than what we do. We are human beings…not
humans doing.
Often, it seems, the
actions we would consider ‘nothing’ are the most faithful actions we could take—and
shouldn’t be denigrated or ignored in their importance.
So, may we be committed, this week and always, to slow down
and be faithfully present with all those in our midst. May we not be so
concerned with our to-do lists, achievements, and production, that we miss
opportunities to be a blessing in the lives of others. May our ultimate success
be measured not by performance or accomplishment, but by people cared for. And
may we be okay doing ‘nothing’ for the Kingdom.
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