time audit

so the jobs that i work are those kind of part time jobs with vague descriptions of how many hours to work, and a task list inevitably longer than the hours available. discernment is key, especially when finals start to loom over head, and fun holiday things tempt me to stop working (a good thing in my book).

which makes me want to ponder how i do spend my time at work and the effect that it has. now there are days, in my radical seminarian brain and heart, that i want to give up the institutions and spend my precious hours devoted to ministry directly serving people. cooking for the hungry, tutoring small children, that sort of thing... sexy ministry (when compared to admin anyway). it is what jesus did right? and we are called to do what jesus did...

this week i found myself doing something sexier that my usual admin work: dressing the sanctuary for advent. up and down ladders (that made me a little nervous) running around the space, i spent hours being fussy with the way the fabric was draping. finally happy with the way that it looked, and with my plan to make it grow over the course of the season, i cleaned up.

so, in total, this week, i spent somewhere around 10-12 hours procuring supplies, installing and perfecting the advent decor. now, some of this time was put into infrastructure that i will never have to repeat, but all the same, when you are only "supposed" to work 15-20 hours a week, that is a lot of time. is it worth it?

for many people, the space is just a space when worshiping. don't matter what color, what texture, what lighting, it will feel the same to them. for others, (like me) the space can speak volumes about theology, set a mood, welcome the Holy Spirit and glorfiy God... if we are lucky, all at the same time. But are enough people in the second category to make the time and the work worth it? as much as i like my art to be about me, this is an art form i practice that is not about me, it is about the community and facilitating the community's experience. this will be our first advent in a space like this, so i am anxious for feedback.

right now, i agree with Georgia O'Keefe...
"i foud that i could say things with color and shapes that i couldn't say any other way--things i had not words for."

this will be my first advent sermon ever, and it will have no words.