More productive or more anxious?

This article is so chock-full of information that I had trouble processing all of the ideas and implications! It really made me think. It's about class differences, the current recession, and changes in the American work ethic.

We e-mail, we text, we Facebook, we blog. Are we more productive today or just more anxious?
By Katharine Mieszkowski
(about the new book, Elsewhere, U.S.A., by Dalton Conley)

I got thinking about my own work ethic. I take one full day off a week, Fridays, to make sure I get a Sabbath from ministry to rest, take time to do personal things, and spend time with Adam. But sometimes it's hard for me to slow down enough to really enjoy these things -- I often get sort of "stuck," going from 70 mph to 0 or 5 on my Sabbath. I feel agitated, distracted, and unable to really sink my teeth into rest. Even when I can continue to zip around because I'm using my Sabbath to do errands, I end up feeling resentful that I'm spending rest time "doing" instead of resting and just being. What is really rejuvenating? I'm still figuring that out.

This article made me wonder if that's because there isn't a clear division between work and leisure anymore, or at least not the way there was in the 1950s, or even the 1980s. Technology means most of us don't really "leave" work. I don't have a Blackberry, but I'm on email and Facebook often enough. And most Americans find their identity and strongest life satisfaction in their job. Most clergy do, certainly. And so, taking a day off from work can be tricky: how do I take a day off from all the thoughts and loves that consume my brain and heart, and that are fun and rewarding to think about?

But God made Sabbath one of the Ten Commandments. So I feel compelled to keep trying to explore it, and make it a less anxious and confusing experience for myself! I have a book I've been meaning to read, Receiving the Day, by Dorothy Bass. Maybe I'll finally sit down and read it next Friday, my next Sabbath.

Favorite quote of the day

"The only surer route to Oscar credibility than making a Holocaust movie is being dead."

(Re: Oscar chances for The Reader and Heath Ledger)

Slate.com

Sorry, Bishop Gene

but the Rev. Joseph Lowery pretty much topped everyone today. I like how Eve Fairbanks, writing for The Plank, a blog sponsored by The New Republic, put it:
"... Lowery's benediction had what Rick Warren's earnest invocation, Barack Obama's powerful address, and Elizabeth Alexander's limping poem all to some degree lacked: rhythm."

Amen to that. And starting with that verse from the Black National Anthem, "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing"? Brilliant. That hymn almost always makes me cry.

Here's the transcript, courtesy of the L.A. Times website:

God of our weary years, god of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our god, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.

Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to thee, oh God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day.

We pray now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration.

He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national, and indeed the global, fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations.

Our faith does not shrink though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you are able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union.

And while we have sown the seeds of greed -- the wind of greed and corruption -- and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques or wherever we seek your will.

Bless President Barack, first lady Michelle. Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together as children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone.

With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around . . .

. . . when yellow will be mellow . . .

. . . when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. Let all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.

Robinson's Prayer, take 2

Here's the youtube of Bishop Robinson's invocation...

Gene Robinson's invocation

Thanks to my friend, the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel, for this transcription. Robinson is using the 4-fold Franciscan blessing as his base for the first part of the prayer. You may have heard it before -- we used it during Lent at St. Benedict last year.

Since HBO did not broadcast it, here is Gene Robinson's prayer from the Lincoln Memorial yesterday:

"O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will bless us with tears -- tears for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women in many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless this nation with anger -- anger at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort at the easy, simplistic answers we've preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth about ourselves and our world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be fixed anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility, open to understanding that our own needs as a nation must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance, replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences.

Bless us with compassion and generosity, remembering that every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable.

And God, we give you thanks for your child, Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, inspire him with President Lincoln's reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy's ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King's dream of a nation for all people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our ship of state needs a steady, calm captain.

Give him stirring words; We will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters' childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we're asking far too much of this one. We implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand, that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity, and peace. Amen."

The Spiritual Meaning of House Shopping

Dwellings are spiritual things. Space is sacred, because we inhabit it on a daily basis and so it shapes our daily lives. As Adam and I start to look at houses here in Bolingbrook, we're thinking about these things.

We've actually played around with the idea of buying "beneath our means." In part, this is because we're not sure what Adam will be doing to make a living next year. But what would it mean to look at -- or choose? -- a house that was smaller and less polished than what the market tells us we can afford?

Oh, but it's hard not to go out and think only in terms of the lofty ceiling of our price range -- ooh, fancy pants kitchen! three bathrooms! brand new construction! Two car garage! And the higher you buy, supposedly, the larger return on your investment.

But isn't that what got so many people in trouble recently? Buying above their means? A woman at church told me that she and her husband purposely bought a house they could support on one income, just in case.

And perhaps there are spiritual reasons to consider a house smaller or "less perfect" than what the bank says you can afford.

Adam often says: "I don't want more space so that we'll go out and buy more stuff to fill it up."

If we had less space, we might have more cash to spend on furnishing it with furniture we REALLY LIKE (instead of all IKEA, all the time) and actually moving my childhood piano out here from my parents' house. Or we could make the house ultra energy efficient (Adam's parents have geothermal heating). Or we could travel more (the bishop says he wants to organize a trip to the Holy Land in a year or two). Or maybe we would simply pay more attention to what home means to us, since every square foot would count. Or maybe pay less attention, since there would be LESS roof, less plumbing, less wiring, fewer windows, etc. to think about. Not to mention less space to heat.

I'm not sure where this journey will take us, but it is making me re-examine what's important to me. I'm sure I'll learn a lot about myself in the process.

(But gosh, it's embarassing how SILLY LITTLE things catch my attention: "ooh, a birdbath!" "ooh, cool light fixture!" "ooh, a cherry red bedspread!" Things that have NOTHING to do with the overall quality or value of the house.)

lentil soup report

I'm sure you're all waiting with baited breath:
Adam thought it was alright, but doesn't really care for the texture of lentils.

News at 11.

Coffee, cold, and lentil soup

Some friends came to visit last week, bringing some very strong coffee beans with them. Like I mean, beyond anything you could buy at Starbucks if you asked for it. Boy was that coffee good (Adam didn't like it much). But this is the second day I've had to fight a headache in the morning. No more of that! I'm off coffee entirely until maybe next week.

Cold cold cold is settling in. We watched the sun set through a sky hazy with blowing snow. Now it's dark, and the main road, which I can see from the window, is almost empty. This is unheard of during rush hour! We're all hiding inside to be safe and warm.

When I've lived a life that had more walking in it, winter was less of a burden. Being out in the cold just means you get used to it -- and you get more sun and exercise, too. Alas, this is not much of a possibility in the 'burbs. You can't even walk in the forest preserve without snowshoes (And I gave mine away a couple years ago. Dumb). I do have a dusty pair of backwoods xcountry skis in the closet...

I'm going to make lentil soup. Adam says this will be interesting, because he's never tried a lentil soup he liked, and yet he's never had a soup I've made that he didn't like. Stay posted for results.