Are you starting something new? Perhaps you have a new job. You are excited but a bit nervous as well. Perhaps this is a new beginning for you. Maybe you are a new parent. Or, maybe you are now an “empty nester.” It could be that you have just retired. Endings and beginnings can both be challenges. Regardless of where you and I might be in life, the challenge is learning to navigate our lives in faith.
The List of Five
(Charleston, SC by Andrew Kelly - Unsplash)
Your Refreshment May Be One Decision Away
Charlotte and I just returned from vacation. Most of the time, we were in Charleston, South Carolina but we also spent a day in Savannah, Georgia. After a very intense year in which travel was severely limited (due to COVID-19), this was a refreshing break. We spent almost a week looking at the sights, enjoying food and coffee, and the sounds, smells, and sights all around us.
What do you do for your health, renewal, and sanity?
Some may need to take time off. You don’t have to spend a lot of money or travel far away. Do what works for you, given the finances and time available. Regardless of where you go or what you might do, this time off can be very helpful for your own refreshment. (Of course, some leaders may have particular reasons which make it difficult to take time off. See Carey Nieuwhof, “5 Signs You are a Leader Who Needs to be Needed (Why You Never Get a Break)”)
Some may need to spend time with friends, family members, and others who enrich, encourage, and energize. Consider the people who add these rich qualities to your life?
Some may need to seek out particular resource people. A spiritual director, a counselor, a coach, or a mentor can be incredibly helpful. Who are a few resource people whom you might find helpful?
Some may need to be more intentional about reading books that are life giving and listening to podcasts that encourage. What authors or podcasts are sources of life and hope for you?
For several months, I have been working with an “idea” notebook. Each day, I write brief entries of various thoughts and ideas. The entries are relatively brief. The idea might be something I heard on the news. The thought might have occurred after a conversation at lunch. Perhaps one of the entires is an intriguing title of a new book. Every few days, I review several pages in this notebook. Most of the time, these entries help prime my thinking.
Whatever you need to do for your own refreshment, it is important take the next step. Take action! Do this for yourself. Do this to bless others. Do this for the glory of God.
Invest in a Foundation that Will Make a Practical Difference
The commencement address was compelling. Jimmy Dunne, a Notre Dame alumnus, who serves on the Board of Directors for the university, spoke at the Notre Dame Commencement in May 2021. Dunne is a co-founder of Sandler O’Neill, which became the largest independent full-service investment banking firm in NYC.
The firm’s offices were located in the World Trade Center South Tower, on the 104th floor. On September 11, 2001, 83 people went to work. At 9:03 AM (EST), the first plane struck. 66 of those 83 employees never went home. The employees who died that day had 76 children.
Dunne was committed to doing what was right for the families who lost a father or mother on that horrific day. His decisive action provided care for the families of deceased employees by continuing to pay, for a time, their salaries, health care, and yearly bonuses. He created a college scholarship fund for children who lost a parent. Many children received full tuition from the Sandler O’Neill Assistance Foundation enabling them to attend colleges and universities across the country, including Notre Dame.
When asked why he and others at the firm made the commitment to these employees’ families, Dunne said:
We believed that what we did would echo for a hundred years in the families of our people, their kids and their grandkids. We knew how we conducted ourselves in those first few hours and days would define who we really were and what we stood for. If we were not honorable, then we stood for nothing.
Dunne’s parents were people of faith. They instilled in him the importance of doing what is right. Dunne’s memories included seeing his father on his knees in prayer.
In this commencement address, Dunne describes what he was thinking shortly after 9/11:
Normally I would have gone straight to my two partners I knew best, but we had lost them, too. The question was, How do we recover? . . . and more than that, What can we do for those families left behind?
At such moments, there isn’t time to reflect and figure out what you believe. All you have is your foundation, and you’re about to find out if it’s a good one. If you can get through, it’s going to be on the strength of what you have already. How we conducted ourselves would define who we were and what we stood for. If we were not honorable, then we stood for nothing.
Like the foundation of a house, your own foundation makes an incredible difference. Don’t let go of your foundation! In Psalm 73, the writer says that at one point, he almost gave up. It was in the sanctuary that he gained his perspective. He remembered his foundation. God had given him gifts, such as security (73:23), direction (73:24), destiny (73:24b), and strength (73:26). These gifts are ours as well. These four gifts can keep you encouraged.
Five Useful Questions
Seth Godin has written a very fine piece entitled “Five Useful Questions.” The following are the five questions and his comments. My comments are in brackets.
What’s the hard part? Which part of your work, if it suddenly got much better, would have the biggest impact on the outcome you seek? (A few months ago, I entered blocks of time on my calendar to address the hard parts of my work. This practice has been very helpful, not only with productivity, but in addressing issues of avoidance.)
How are you spending your time? If we took a look at your calendar, how much time is spent reacting or responding to incoming (requests, etc), how much is under your control, and how much is focused on the hard part? (I spend far too much time reacting to various situations that pop up throughout the day such as unexpected e-mails.)
What do you need to know? What are the skills that you don’t have that would make your work more effective? (I would like to have more skill in communicating the mission of our organization in terms that are clearer to the average person.)
What is the scary part? Which outcomes or interactions are you trying to avoid thinking about or interacting with? Why? (The outcome I avoid thinking about is the possibility of running out of time, especially due to my own procrastination.)
Is it worth it? After looking at your four answers to these questions, you might have a better idea of what it will take for your project to reach its potential. Does the outcome of the project–for those you serve and for you–justify what it will take to get it there? (Yes, even reflecting on these four questions give me clarity as to the importance of my life in Christ, as well as my ministry.)
Letters to My Younger Self (as a young minister)
Recently, I thought about what I would like to say to a younger version of myself, if I could share what I have learned. What would I say to my 25 year old self, a young minister in the late 1970s? At the time we were living in a small town in middle Tennessee. I was the minister for a small church that met in what was at one time a convenience store. Charlotte was teaching school in another nearby town. As a young rookie minister, I was trying to figure out what I needed to do in my ministry. Now, decades later, this in part is what I would like to say to my younger self:
Dear Jim,
You graduated from the university (a business degree) and then the small Bible college you attended. (You have not gone to seminary yet.) Now you are serving your first congregation. You are experiencing a lot of change. You and Charlotte live in the small town of Pulaski, Tn. This is long way from Dallas, Texas where you grew up. This is a very different culture than what you are familiar with. You are newly married and both of you are learning to make adjustments.
This congregation has given you the opportunity to experience various aspects of ministry. Some of this has been very hard. All of it has been interesting:
You have had hard conversations with some members of the congregation about race. In a very difficult church meeting, you spoke up due to some ugly, sinful racist attitudes that were present. You spoke up even though you were terrified internally.
You experienced the power of an older brother’s kindness and his understanding of how to connect with people. He took you throughout the community introducing you to so many, many people. You learned much from him.
You preached your first funeral, a 26 year old woman who died of cancer. She was baptized only weeks before her death.
You began to realize how little you really knew about the Bible and ministry in particular.
As you continue to serve the congregation, I want to encourage you not to be discouraged. God is with you and will give you the resources you need. Use your sense of inadequacy as an opportunity to learn greater dependance on God. In the meantime, as a young minister, be humble and continue to learn. Cherish your young marriage. Make space in your life for joy.
Be patient with these people in the congregation. There is joy and there is pain in serving these people. Yet, years later, you will realize the extraordinary patience they had with you.
Finally, write it down. Write down your thoughts, insights, ideas, etc. Keep a journal. One day you will be glad to have a record of the names, places, and details about your life and ministry.
Remember that God is good and will never leave you or forsake you.
An Older Jim
Resources
See this excellent report (pdf) on Resilience from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology.
Don’t miss Seth Godin’s excellent blog post “Five Useful Questions” from June 14, 2021. (Referred to in #3 above)
While in Savannah, Charlotte and I saw Flannery O’Conner’s (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) childhood home. Unfortunately, it was closed so we could not tour it. We did get to tour The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist while in Savannah. This church was where O’Conner attended as a child, just steps away from her home. Today, as I thought about O’Conner, I read “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” one of her short stories.
I’m not sure why this interests me, but it does. See “10 Famous Writers and Their Desk Setups” by Aigner Loren Wilson (July 15, 2021).
Recently read Winn Collier’s biography of Eugene Peterson, A Burning in My Bones. Also read Jason Riley’s biography of Thomas Sowell, Maverick. One a minister and the other an economist. Both biographies are well written.
I serve 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@gmail.com. Feel free to write. I would love to hear what is encouraging or helpful. — Jim Martin
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