pastorhacks...

I run a site called PastorHacks.com... here's why:

Mind like water...

David Allen of GTD fame has a metaphor he uses... "Mind like water."

Now, before you turn me in to WatchBlogs™ for being a New Age sympathizer, let's hear how he describes this ideal state for dealing with all the things (input) that comes our way.

He says "Behind all this lay the 'mind like water' concept, an image I'd come across years ago while studying karate. When you throw a pebble into a pond, what does the water do? It responds with total appropriateness to the force and mass of the rock. It does nothing more and nothing less. It doesn't overreact or underreact. It doesn't react at all. It simply interacts with the whatever comes to it and then returns to its natural state. The water can do that only by design. A human being can act this way only if he or she has a conscious system in place and if that system is built on principles that can withstand chaos and stress."

I find it odd that those of us (pastors) who preach the merits of life abundant and "peace that passes understanding" seem so often to live lives of neither.

Why is that?

David Allen of GTD fame has a metaphor he uses... "Mind like water."

Now, before you turn me in to WatchBlogs™ for being a New Age sympathizer, let's hear how he describes this ideal state for dealing with all the things (input) that comes our way.

He says "Behind all this lay the 'mind like water' concept, an image I'd come across years ago while studying karate. When you throw a pebble into a pond, what does the water do? It responds with total appropriateness to the force and mass of the rock. It does nothing more and nothing less. It doesn't overreact or underreact. It doesn't react at all. It simply interacts with the whatever comes to it and then returns to its natural state. The water can do that only by design. A human being can act this way only if he or she has a conscious system in place and if that system is built on principles that can withstand chaos and stress."

I find it odd that those of us (pastors) who preach the merits of life abundant and "peace that passes understanding" seem so often to live lives of neither.

Why is that?

Partly, it is the nature of our job. We're not just dealing with our own emergencies. In many ways, we're dealing with the life emergencies of everyone in our pastorate. For example, I worry not only about my own marriage, but the marriage of many others, in many different places on the continuum of health. Stress.

But a big part of it is a mess of our own making. We're the ones who live lives without margin, who over commit and underpray. We're the ones trying to run an organization (whether we like it or not) but who resist  accountability  for  our time and how we spend it, as if such a thing were an affront to our authority.

I'm coming to realize that, at least for me... and maybe for you... my disorganization is killing me. It's very literally sapping all the 'bundance out of my abundant life and leaving precious little peace.

Which is why I do this blog.

You know the old saw about the preacher and his/her pet hobby horses? That the guy who preaches a lot on lust is probably preaching to himself?

That's me.

But rather than lust (no, not perfect in that area) and preaching on it week in and week out, I do this little blog. It forces me to think about the level of crapitude in my systems, my inability to live with any sense of margin, my complete lack of organization and the resulting emergencies which cost me and my family so much. Got to get to a point where shalom is a reality in my life, and the peace that Jesus brings isn't drowned out by the chaos I create.

Got to get my act together. Mind like water. Hacking my life, my attitude, my systems to the point where I can deal with what comes my way appropriately, without over reacting, or underreacting.Working hard and trusting God with the results.

Comments

[Rachel]

Bob, I think PastorHacks is a great blog! I love your motto "Less time on tasks... more time with people." I think that's the really important thing for pastors and for all of us - to make sure that increased efficiency really does lead to more time for rest and relationships, not to increased ability to complete an even greater volume of tasks.

I used to have a boss who loved to say "Work smarter, not harder." We all learned to hate that saying because it usually meant, "We are about to let another employee go and reassign all her tasks among the rest of you. But that's OK, you'll be able to do it all because you will work smarter, not harder."

[Bob]

Ha!

When I first did the pastorhacks blog with that tag, I had a few people link to it, but mangle the tag a bit...
"Less time on tasks, more time on people"...

Not quite the same mental picture :)

[David Alexander]

Bob,

Just to echo what others have said. I do appreciate PastorsHacks and the emphasis you have placed there on balance GTD has helped me tremendously. My favorite tool so far is Vitalist. Anyways, thanks for sharing your struggle with the rest of us. It's encouraging!