Jim Martin's Encouragement Note #12
Are we in a sprint or a marathon? In the last three months, many leaders (including myself) have been in a sprint. The word “crisis” puts our bodies, minds, and emotions on high alert. Ministers, business people, educators, and others scramble to figure out what to do! Church online! Education online! People working from home! These are just a few of the adjustments.
Yet, the pace many of us are keeping is just not sustainable. After all, we are more likely in a marathon than a sprint. To persevere, we will need to pace ourselves for a marathon.
In light of this, the following list of five may be helpful.
The List of Five
Tired or Even Exhausted? A Place to Begin
(Take away: In a time in which many of us find that we are tired, stressed and exhausted, a place to begin might be in just acknowledging that you are fragile.)
One of the best things all of us can do is to simply acknowledge that we are fragile. I’m not suggesting that we lack grit, toughness, or perseverance. Rather, I want to simply acknowledge that as a human, I am not invincible or indestructible. I may be able to work very hard, yet even that has its limits. For years, I took much pride in how hard I could work. While that pride fed my ego, it didn’t feed my soul.
You and I don’t have to act as if we are superhuman. We don’t have to pretend that nothing hurts us or that another’s words or actions do not sting. The truth is that we are all fragile. I really like the poem below by Nic Askew:
We are fragile. You and me.
Though we act strong,
our lives are
held together with
thoughts of where
we might be tomorrow.
And of disappointed
yesterdays.
At any moment we might shatter.
We might fall to our knees
weighed down by the terror
of being so far from
our own control.
Dare we look up, we’d not know
where to go or what to do.
We are fragile. You and me.
If we were to turn to each other,
we might see the whole world
on their knees.
Hurting, and seemingly
alone.
But none of us are.
We are fragile together.
Yes, we are fragile, but God will redeem this reality for his purposes. We gain strength from God who is our rock. “My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent people you save me” (2 Samuel 22:3). God is our refuge and our stronghold.
Parker Palmer observes, "A leader is a person who must take special responsibility for what's going on inside him or her self, inside his or her consciousness, lest the act of leadership create more harm than good.”
Quoted by Ruth Haley Barton in Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry
If You Want to be a Highly Resilient Leader
(Take away: Cultivating resilience is critical for any person who is living in these times. It is important to be intentional regarding this.)
Right now, I know nothing as important for so many of us as developing our capacity for resilience. Consider what we are experiencing: A health crisis, a financial crisis, and a social or race crisis. Anxiety seems to permeate the air we breathe right now. The question for many of us concerns how we pull together.
For any Christian leader, bringing health, clarity, and some sense of direction will most likely happen when a leader shows up with calmness in the midst of people who may be highly anxious. This means that leaders are going to pay close attention to what they are practicing - their habits etc. Far too often, exhausted leaders soak up the anxiety around them. As a result, they may lead in reaction to someone else instead of calmly determining a course of action.
It is so important to develop our own capacity for resilience (how we respond to the world around us.) Otherwise, we may find ourselves exhausted, living on the fumes of anxiety, and ready to quit (job, relationship, responsibility, etc.)
Note these words form Chris Adams and Matt Bloom:
High-resilience people are, for example, able to ‘just say no’ to overworking. They notice when stress is building up and take action to reduce it. They have the capacity to figure out ways of rebuilding or maintaining their wellbeing that fit well into their life.
(Adams & Bloom, “Flourishing in Ministry: Wellbeing at Work in Helping Professions,” in Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 2017, Vol. 36, No. 3, p. 254; See this excellent pdf.)
Re-fueling is critical for me right now. We are in a marathon, not a sprint. This particular period of time, with its high anxiety, means that I need to be very intentional about my own energy and renewal. For me this means:
Paying attention to the spiritual disciplines in my life.
Caring for my body (at this point this means walking and riding my bike.)
Being attentive to my sleep and rest.
Taking in social media and the national news in moderation.
Continuing the habits that in small ways give me life.
What are the practices and habits that give you life and nurture you? If you were to make a list, what might the first five be?
When the Voices Are Intense and You Feel Caught-Between
(Take away: When voices are intense, and if the issue matters, the solution may not be as simple as “either/or.”)
In the last few weeks, I have had conversations with people in leadership roles in their businesses as well as with numerous ministers. Many described feeling pressure or even anxiety over attempting to lead in times like this. As churches begin to reconvene at their buildings, leaders often find themselves dealing with people who are sharply divided over how we should be thinking and what we should be doing.
I find Nancy Koehn’s book, Forged in Crisis: The Making of Five Courageous Leaders helpful. I read this book over a year ago and am coming back to it again. Note this insight below:
This is an insight for today’s leaders. We are under pressure to move fast, leap tall buildings in a single bound, and make a big impact. But the reality of trying to accomplish something real and good gives lie to the seductive notion that there is one simple solution. Almost anything along our life journeys that is worth investing in, worth fighting for, and worth summoning our best selves for has no silver bullet. The bigger the issue, the less likely it is that a leader can resolve it in one or two swift strokes. Understanding this means abandoning the quest for the single definitive answer. Letting go of this quest frees leaders — emotionally and practically — to focus on the many possible approaches and actions needed to make a meaningful difference.
(Nancy Koehn, Forged in Crisis: The Making of Five Courageous Leaders, p. 162)
Self-Care 101 in Small Portions
(Take away: The self-care tweets below may be helpful “starters.” )
The following are self-care tweets that I published recently. This is an ongoing series. Perhaps you will find some of these useful. What might be important is not that you do what I do, but that you create your own practices and habits that are helpful to you.
Self-care #1 - Focus on spiritual disciplines - especially those that have been life-giving. Prayer. Silence. Scripture reading. Journaling. Solitude. Gratitude, etc. Can I find a daily rhythm for some of these? What would this look like on weekdays?
Self-care #2 - Pay attention to basics. How I eat. My sleep. Exercise. Consider taking a very small step forward. Focus on progress not lofty goals. A small step forward is progress. Stop saying "Yea but I should have done more." Celebrate the progress!
Self-care #3 - There is much heaviness in the news. A health crisis. A financial crisis. A race crisis. All of these are important but I want to be sure to allow myself the space to laugh, find joy, and enjoy a good meal.
Self-care #4 - I can get overly focused on that cantankerous church member, the irritating elder, etc. - rehearsing again what this person said to me. Can be helpful to start making a list of every good thing you are noticing in others. A shift in my energy to gratitude.
Self-care #5 - Look for moments of joy today. A first cup of coffee. A smile from another. A kind text message. A bird singing. The wind blowing against your face. Viewing a flower. A picture of a small child. The taste of cinnamon. On and on. Thank God for these gifts.
The test of faith is consistency—not the fanatic consistency by which one repudiates the influence of knowledge, but rather a consistency between principle and behavior. A man’s behavior should be the creature of his principles, not the creature of his circumstances.
Wendell Berry
Resources
Whitney Johnson and Amy Humble, “To Take Care of Others, Start by Taking Care of Yourself” in Harvard Business Review, April 28, 2020.
“Praxis Reads//Two Ways to Build 2020” by Philip Lorish. I find that most everything I read by the Praxis group is thoughtful and usually helpful.
Love this line by James Clear, "Mental toughness is persistence not intensity." See 3-2-1 Thursday, June 18, 2020.
A few comments by Austin Kleon on the late Anthony Bourdain and his curiosity. Perhaps this got my attention because more and more I am realizing the value of my own curiosity for learning and growing.
Each Friday/Saturday, I post about ten tweets especially for ministers and other church leaders as they anticipate Sunday. You can find me @jimmartin.
Jim Martin serves as Vice President of Harding School of Theology, Memphis, Tennessee. You can find me at God-Hungry.org. You can find me on Facebook - @jim.martin. My e-mail address is: jmartin9669-at-gmail.com. Feel free to write. I would love to hear what is encouraging or helpful.
Great poem. Thanks for sharing. I am fatigued for sure.