To one degree or another, most of us tend to be creatures of habit. We all have daily routines and rhythms that we follow as we live our daily lives. I would be willing to venture an educated guess that your routines and rhythms have looked at least marginally different over the course of the past six to eight weeks. In reality, the events of recent weeks have been akin to the shifting of societal tectonic plates, resulting in a fundamental realignment of our lives. I know that the pattern of the life I live today looks almost nothing like it did in early March.
Functionally, I still accomplish many of the same tasks, but the venues and methodologies look a lot different.
Here’s how an average day goes for me. The “office hours” for First Baptist Church are from 9am-4:00pm, so I get up, dressed, and down to the “office phone” before 9am. The “office phone” is the iPhone that currently receives all church calls. I turn off the silent mode, put the phone in my pocket and head to the kitchen to make coffee. While the coffee is brewing, I feed the dog then peruse the daily news on my personal iPhone. Once the coffee is ready, I pour a cup and head to “the office.” My current office is an oversized chair (or undersized loveseat, we’re really not sure) in the corner of my living room surrounded by guitars and tables filled with computerized devices, Bibles, writing utensils, post-it notes, and a variety of books. I won’t bore you with the minutia of my daily routine at “the office,” but I have specific things I do by specific times each day of the week. Functionally, I still accomplish many of the same tasks, but the venues and methodologies look a lot different.
I’ve also had to add some flexibility into my framework. I’m not the only one working from the confines of my home. My wife is an aid at Emerson Elementary and still performs a variety of tasks digitally. I have two school aged children who are navigating e-learning for the first time, and periodically my assistance is required. I also have had to make allowances for our 90 pound Golden Doodle, Evie, who is under the impression that our schedule revolves around her. At first, I was somewhat annoyed by the periodic interruptions. I still struggle with it from time to time if I’m being honest. But, on the whole, I’ve made the adjustment and I find that I enjoy educational interludes and momentary interactions.
Jesus Himself noted that ALL of Scripture coalesced in two things; Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving other as you love yourself. These are the essential tasks!
There’s a lot of talk about essential and non-essential work these days. I think this temporary disruption to our regularly scheduled programing has led many of us to reevaluate what is truly essential in our lives. The forced resetting of our routines and rhythms has made us aware of the ruts we had created and how deeply we were dug into them. I’m all for focus, efficiency, and effectiveness, but when our production and plans take priority over the people in our lives we have a serious problem. For too many of us our priorities were confused, if only for certain moments, and we lost sight of what was truly essential. Jesus Himself noted that ALL of Scripture coalesced in two things; Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving other as you love yourself. These are the essential tasks!
Governors in states throughout the nation are rolling out their plans to get America back to business. I’ll leave the discussion about the how’s, when’s, and why’s of reopening to others, but I do want to address the what. It’s my hope that as we get back to business that we don’t go back to business as usual. Let’s reflect on the stillness of the last several weeks and see the many bright spots in what has been a difficult and dark time for many. In this season, so many of us have made space to reconnect with Jesus. So many of us have found extra time for our families. All of us are ready to reconnect with our friends. As we, once again, realign our routines and rhythms, let’s make sure we prioritize that which is truly essential.
