Tag Archives: work

Entrepreneurs say “NO!” to “a balanced life”

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…..But if not balance, then what?

#BeyondBalance

During my time working among entrepreneurs over the last 15 years I have consistently heard and seen a rejection of the notion of “balance”. Anytime it is said, invariably some young grinder will scoff and say,

“There’s no such thing as balance.
Or if there is, I certainly don’t have time for it.
I’m 24/7/365 to build my business.”

At first I was confused, then troubled and concerned. I argued, usually just in my head, “You have to balance your personal health, your relationships with your work, otherwise what kind of life will you have? After all, no one on their death bed says, ‘I wish I’d spent more time at work…’” (Turns out some people do, but that’s for another time.) How can people live that way and be happy?

I’ve come to view it differently over the last few years.

The problem with the word balance is that people seem to hear it as “equal amounts of time and energy PUT INTO each segment under consideration. As in, “You need to put the same number of hours into your work, your relationships, your physical health, etc. On the face of it this is fairly unrealistic for most people. A week contains 168 hours. Let’s say you sleep 6 hours per night, leaving you 126 waking hours. Spend another 28 hours on eating and personal hygene. That leaves 98 hours for everything else – work, family and friend Balanced Life pie chartrelationships, exercise, recreation, spiritual and relitious practices. I think most entrepreneurs I know work between 60 and 80 hours each week on their thing, whatever that is. Frankly, many salaried and hourly workers put in as many hours on one or more jobs. In which case, balance that looks like the image here is impossible. That would mean 26 hours of your 126 available for each segment.

There are several false assumptions embedded in this mindset. One inherent falacy is the idea that these six facets of life are siloed, as shown in this image of six separate and distinct collumns – one for each of the six domains of human flourishing. The dominant understanding in this point of view is that the time and energy, behaviors and impact of Balanced Life - siloseach segment need to stay apart from each other. Two of the most obvious examples are: 1)
“Don’t bring your personal problems to work, and don’t bring your work home,” and 2) “Don’t mix your religion/spirituality with your work or relationships,” otherwise known as “Spirituality is a private matter, don’t talk about it with others.”

While there are certainly risks on the other end of this spectrum, the reality is that we cannot build imporous barriers separating these aspects of life. If we are having emotional struggles, or relationship problems, we cannot help but carry these with us into our occupational lives, and they will likely impact us physically.

This energy wants to flow naturally and organically from one to another aspect of life. When things are going well and we feel energized and excited, say at work, about an idea, or in a special relationship, then that positive energy wants to flow over into the other domains and bring vitality to them as well. Conversely, if we are feeling discouraged or depleated in one place, then that will draw energy away from the other facets of life. This happens without our thinking about it.

The gift in this organic system of life is that we can turn this natural process to our advantage. We can channel and direct the positive energy where we need it. We can counterbalance negativity and discouragement in one part of life by boosting the positive energy in another. Harvard Medical School reports that physical activity improves mood and mental focus. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise can even help counteract the debilitating symptoms of clinical depression, improving quality of life and releasing more energy for other things. It even seems to slow some of the negative declines associated with aging, according to a study conducted at the University of Texas at Dallas. These improvements can have a significant opsitive impact on our relationships and our occupational lives.

If not balance, understood in the above “equal and distinct time and effort” way that seems common among entrepreneurs who dismiss “balance” as unatainable, or at least undesirable disruption to the persuit of their goals, then what?

How do we go “Beyond Balance”?

You may also enjoy reading DownTime,
and “New Seasons, New Priorities” – where I reflected on my own efforts to move #BeyondBalance.

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Featured image credit: Michael Grab – GravityGlue.com

Synchronous Life – Honoring Occupation

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(Sermon Study Notes for 032016 – Download PDF here)

We are meant for work, and for Good works. In the very beginning stories of human life meaningful work was seen as an essential element of our existence. Work can be a means by which we honor and glorify God, or it can distract us and destroy that which is good.

Sermon Study Notes – 032016 – Exodus 36:1-7

Occupation means not only what we do to earn income and thus purchase the things we need to live. The literal definition is “anything that occupies your time” – therefore watching TV, doing yard work, writing a poem or cooking a meal – these are all occupations. For the purposes of the Synchronous Life discussion, occupations are those things that are done external to oneself. Thus thinking a poem is an intellectual activity, while writing or reciting it to someone is an occupation.

The text for today (Exodus 36:1-7, see also Exodus 31:1-11) demonstrates how God has gifted and called particular individuals to occupations whereby they will do something or make something, and thus contribute positively to the community. They have been “blessed to be a blessing” (Genesis 12). As background for this, we have also Genesis 1:26-2:9, excerpts from the first and second creation stories that illustrate how God made human kind with occupation as integral to our created nature – to care for creation and one another, and thereby provide our livelihood and develop society.

In the texts from Exodus we see that some work serves the purpose of enabling or enhancing the worship life of the community. Not that we must have a structure within which to worship, or instruments and musicians to lead us, or vessels and other objects for our use in worship. These are not, strictly speaking, necessary. And yet they are helpful. They can aid in drawing us in and holding us together as a community and focusing our attention on God. (NOTE: They can also become obstacles, when they become the objects of worship rather than tools that facilitate worship – that is the definition of idolatry.)

Think about the place, the space, and the objects used in your experiences of worship. How are they helpful, and how might they become a hindrance? Which ones do you personally use, and which are used by others, though perhaps for your benefit – i.e. you use a hymnal and the communion trays, but do not personally play the organ. Give thanks for those who made all of these things, those who gave the money for them, and those who maintain and prepare themselves to make worshipful use of them – all of these are expressions of occupation. Now think about all of the rest of the church life – study, fellowship, service, evangelism, administration – and all of the items used, and by whom. Think over all of the various occupations that go into making a church function well. In which of these are you now or have you been involved? How have you helped make these things possible? When can you recall that these things became sources of struggle or conflict in the life of a congregation?

What about today and tomorrow? How are you currently involved? What is your occupation in the life of faith through the congregation or community where you are connected? What might you do differently? Various occupations suit us during the changing seasons of our lives. Yet there is always something we contribute to those around us and to the world. What is it for you?

 

Questions for Reflection:

Occupation is one of the Six Domains of a Synchronous Life:
Spiritual / Physical – Emotional / Relational – Intellectual / Occupational

  1. How is your occupational life important in your faith journey and relationship with God? How has that changed over time? Remember, this applies not only to what you do to earn income, but any activities – work, hobbies, etc.
  2. When might occupations cause problems for someone’s spiritual journey?
  3. Where in our community and culture do you see occupations to be vibrant and life-giving? Where are they being applied with wisdom, resulting in righteousness, justice and equity?
  4. Where in your own personal life does your occupational life get expressed? How do you keep it active and vibrant?
  5. What might a church, The Church, and our church, do to support people in their occupational lives – in the pursuit of meaningful work and activities that help them become better people and receive God’s blessings so that they can bless others?
  6. How do occupations impact the other areas of life – spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, intellectual? What might you do, and what might the church do, to help people better integrate, harmonize, and synchronize the energy and vitality in each of these other areas with their occupational lives?
  7. How have you, and how can you, share your occupations with others? Who have you apprenticed, taught, mentored in a skill or knowledge area of yours? Again, this can be a “work” or “hobby” or “volunteer” activity.
  8. When has God shown up in your occupational life? When have you been active in some task or another and become aware of God’s presence, or God working in, through or around you to bless others, yourself, and the world at large?

 

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Worship Resources for 032016

CtW – Psalm 90 sv

Leader: Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

People: You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

Leader: Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

People: Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.

Unison: May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.

Prayer of Confession: UCC Book of Worship 36a

Text: Exodus 36:1-7
Title: Synchronous Life – Honoring Occupations
Also:  Genesis 1:26-2:9

We are meant for work, and for Good works. In the very beginning stories of human life meaningful work was seen as an essential element of our existence. Work can be a means by which we honor and glorify God, or it can distract us and destroy that which is good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exodus 36

1 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the LORD has commanded.” 2 Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work. 3 They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. 4 So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing 5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done.” 6 Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, 7 because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.

 

Exodus 31

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. 6 Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent— 8 the table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand— 10 and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, 11 and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded you.”

Coworking and the Reign of God

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(UPDATED May 2017. NOTE: This essay was first written in September of 2014. Since then I have been fortunate to accompany The Missional Wisdom Foundation in the formation and launch of The Mix Coworking, and now to begin launching with others new coworking experiments in other congregations and locations. It describes my journey and those who have shaped my understandings of this way of being church and blessing the world.)

The Problems…

* The problem with work

People want to do meaningful work that pays a living wage. Where they work itself seems wrote or mundane, they want to know that it somehow contributes value to a greater good. Jobs lost during the recession are being replaced by lower paying and less skilled work. The cost of a college education is rising, and the return on investment is declining in many instances – a degree does not guarantee a job as it once did. How are where are people to access the resources they need to find or create opportunities for meaningful work? The number of “natural entrepreneurs” is far lower than the great host of folks who are needing or wanting to develop something new through which to make the world a better place and earn an income. The models currently available – work from home, work at a coffee shop, work at an executive suite – all leave much to be desired, and ultimately miss the most important elements – the resources and relationships to do something important.

Enter Coworking

The term was coined by Brad Neuberg in 2005. Neuberg founded Hat Factory, a live-work space open to others during the day, and Citizen Space, a work only coworking space. A large network of coworking spaces and abundant information can be found on Coworking Wiki. Coworking seeks to be the “evolution of the executive office” by promoting collaboration in an open working environment that looks and feels more like a coffee shop or studio. At the same time it offers the amenities of an executive office environment: coffee, business machines, conference and meeting rooms, wifi. Coworking spaces cover a broad range of industries including technology, arts, design, non-profits, social entrepreneurship, business and financial services. Some spaces specialize in one niche – all tech or all design.

* The problem with parish ministry as sole vocation

Congregations are generally declining in size and income at the same time that expenses are rising. Clergy are feeling pressed to make ends meet in the church budget and in their own personal finances. At the same time many feel called to live their ministry in ways that the congregation does not endorse or embrace. This may mean working bi-vocationally – with two voices. It may mean stepping out of the parish and into a community based ministry that is either non-profit or for profit following a social entrepreneurship model. As above, finding the resources and relationships that support such a journey is difficult.

* The problem with congregations trying to connect meaningfully with people

Numerous authors have catalogued the ways in which our culture is becoming increasingly disinterested in organized religion and local congregational life. At the same time there seems a resurgence of interest in spirituality, often perceived as individualistic. Perhaps this is because people only see three options: 1) congregational life; 2) individualistic spirituality; 3) NONE. We need to increasingly create and nurture communities in the world that engender the very best of human nature and allow room for The Spirit to move in and through us. People who are staying away from congregations may never find current expressions of church interesting. So we need to create new places of community, not as doors to traditional parish life, but as alternatives alongside congregations. Both/and, not either/or.

Enter The Grove

Ken Janke founded The Grove New Haven in 2009. He saw this as a solution to the social and economic challenges of a depressed and struggling community. He began with one premise, one question and one offer.

  • The premise: God desires all human beings to cooperate in their own flourishing.
  • The question: What is your dream?
  • The offer: I would like to help you pursue your dream.

Ken calls himself a dream shepherd. As a follower of Jesus, he believes that he is called to proclaim in word and deed the good news of God’s power to redeem, reconcile and restore humanity to self, others, creation and God. He sees this as the work of the church. It is our response to God’s invitation and our prayer that, God’s “will be done and kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”

Ken has served in congregational and community ministries that everyone explicitly understood as church. He recognized in New Haven an opportunity to respond to God’s call in the world, and that too many trappings of “church” would hinder the work of the Gospel. Increasing numbers of people avoid or ignore anything that looks or feels like organized religion, Christian or otherwise. Yet our mandate has not changed. We are called to “go and make disciples.” Ken understands disciples of Jesus as those who live in the world as Jesus did. They bring healing where there is brokenness. They offer and facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation. They proclaim and help people to find life abundant. And he understands that the institutional church can no longer meet this call on its own, if it ever could.

The Grove is a coworking space, meeting all of the essentials in the description above. It is also much more. Ken built into the DNA of Grove culture several essential tenets that align perfectly with the values of the Reign of God.

  • Community: We care for our neighbors and allow them to care for us.
  • Contribution: Everyone has something to offer, and we each need the other.
  • Collaboration: Intentionally working together, supporting one another, promoting the common good.
  • Social Mission: In everything we do we ask, “How will this contribute to the betterment of those around me, of society, of creation, and also of myself?”

The Reign of God includes humanity and creation restored to God’s dream for our wholeness as imaged in Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22. The church is to colabor with God (1 Cor 3:9) in this work. The Grove is a platform for promoting these values, for learning together new ways to behave in business that are more human, more in line with God’s generosity, imagination and grace. When we provide people the opportunity to do meaningful work, in a collaborative community with others who are serious about the same goals, then the Kingdom of God is made manifest, it is “among and within us” (Luke 17:21).

The Grove provides a “third space” in which to build deep and meaningful relationships with others by pouring into them and supporting them in their life-giving dreams. From these relationships then spring opportunities to help people notice and explore The Spirit at work around and within them. As people who do not know the Spirit’s fingerprints or fragrance encounter this work, they are drawn toward it “as the deer thirsts for living water.” (Ps 42) Thus both actively and passively God works in and through The Grove to bring The Reign of God, beginning with the community and spreading throughout the city and around the world. Coworkers at The Grove then return to their own constellation of communities (even churches) transformed and transforming because of what they have experienced in this place.

Enter The Mix

The Mix takes a distinctly different approach. Rather than avoiding church buildings (for very good reason) because of all the baggage and barriers they present to many people, the MWF purposefully partners with congregations to be innovative and missional stewards of their resources, including buildings. So The Mix exists in the basement of and in partnership with White Rock UMC, recognizing and embracing the challenges presented by doing this work with church facilities. It is turning out to be a wonderful experiment in ministry and an opportunity to experience grace while new expressions of church emerge within the sphere of traditional forms.

The Foundation does not rescue or save. We simply ask, “What if…?” in, with and to churches, and then see what comes. Much of the other work of MWF, including our Academy and our New Monastic Houses, involve similar partnerships with churches to welcome the established institutions of church into the collaborative innovations for the kingdom of God.

Here’s the story as I understand it: The Mix as it exists emerged through the convergence of several inspirations. Mitchell Boone and Neil Moseley, pastoral leaders at White Rock UMC, imagined coworking as one of the approaches that might help the congregation engage meaningfully with its neighbors. At around the same time, Daryn DeZengotita (who first invited and welcomed me to The Grove) was on pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona, where she received a vision to open a coworking space as part of her work with the MWF. Supported by the Foundation leadership, and accompanied by Chef Rhonda Sweet to design and run The Mix Kitchen, Daryn has been able to see this vision come to fruition. The journey has not been easy, and though “success” (including but not limited to self-sustaining revenue) is in sight, it is not guaranteed. But then again, what in this life is? What does seem certain is that the effort has been worthwhile, the congregation and community are being blessed, and transformation is emerging.

People are learning new ways of working together, building community among those with and among whom they work, and dreaming of a new and better day for themselves and the world. And they are taking action that is already manifesting that new way of being. What more could anyone ask?

And Beyond…

The latest experiments, including one at Central Christian Church, are hosted and animated by Daryn through Scatterbrain Media and Table Coworking, They help existing groups imagine what it means for them to gain an understanding of and lean into this process of showing up, making space for others, and discovering together how community and collaboration are born. The goal is for groups to be captured by this spirit and organically give rise to new ways of forming connection with the world around them, renewing God’s dream for the flourishing of humanity and all creation – i.e. the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

 

A Practitioner’s View of BiVocational Ministry

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NOTE: the following is a guest post from friend and colleague Dennis Lundblad. Dennis serves as the Pastor and blogs at Sojourner Church in Asheville, NC and Lecturer in Humanities at UNCA.

A Reply to “Some Thoughts on Bivocational Ministry”

I have been a bi-vocational minister for about seven years. I am fortunate in that I have found a way to earn money by doing something that I really love while still being able to serve the Church as a pastor. This topic has come up more and more in recent years, and it has been interesting to observe the different approaches people take to the question of bi-vocational ministry.Some folks see bi-vocational ministry as the inevitable future of the church. The shrinking value of stagnant wages for most people ensures that churches and other charitable organizations receive less and less money in contributions, and that the contributions they do receive can buy less and less. If we can’t do anything about the economic issue (wage stagnation, income inequality, high unemployment) then fewer and fewer congregations will be able to pay a full-time salary to pastors. In this view, bi-vocational ministry is a thing the church must face as an unpleasant reality.

Others see bi-vocational ministry as something to be fought against; it’s a compromise that devalues the professional education of seminary-trained clergy and contributes to the further decline of the institutional church. Congregations need full-time, seminary-trained pastors more than ever, and rather than accept part-time and under-trained ministers as the new status quo, congregations must dig deeper, renew efforts in evangelism and devote more resources to caring for the ministers who care for them.

Still others see bi-vocational ministry as neither a sad inevitability nor a problem to be avoided. Bi-vocational ministry can be a positive choice even for those who are seminary graduates. It seems to me that the changing nature of the Church may require more people who earn their living doing something other than ministry so that congregations can find their purpose and vision for ministry without money and finances as the primary driver of decision-making. The founders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) didn’t desire to designate clergy as a separate class of people; when I was in seminary (Lexington Theological Seminary, class of ’87), most of the professors were ordained clergy, but none of them had the title “The Reverend” on the nameplates of their office doors. I was told that this was because of our tradition of not buying in to the idea of a “clergy class,” which in frontier days was viewed (and justly so) with a fair amount of suspicion. I am a volunteer pastor; it allows me to connect with my parishioners in a direct way (I used to hear fairly often about what I would understand if I actually “worked for a living” as my parishioners did) without fear that my income (already less than that of a seasoned public school teacher) would suffer if I didn’t see things their way. It’s a very liberating thing not to worry about folks in the church using my salary as a lever or a wedge. The emotional systems of congregations can’t seem to resist using money to increase anxiety and lower the challenges of the pastoral vision.

I’m not worried that the Church is dying, as some are…the institutional church may be in decline, but the Church Invisible is not in decline, in my view. It is, however, changing, and if our approach to ministry is dependent on the institutional model of the last few hundred years, and if we see full-time ministry with salary and benefits as the best way to fulfill the calling of the contemporary congregation, then at the very least our congregations and denominations had better make a priority of addressing income inequality, because that’s what is desiccating our institutions.

On the other hand, if we see smaller congregations with greater involvement in the community as the best fulfillment of God’s expectations for the contemporary church, then we should do a few things:

1. Make seminary free. It’s hard to consider part-time or volunteer ministry if there’s an enormous debt-load to worry about.

2. Find a way to make retirement and health insurance for part-time and volunteer pastors a priority. I have had very little opportunity to contribute to my retirement accounts in the last ten years or so, and I suspect other bi-vocational ministers have some trouble with that, too. And don’t even get me started about health insurance.

3. Change the way we label seminary classes so that our 90-hour advanced degree will be recognized as having value to secular employers who don’t know much about the Church or the Master of Divinity. Identify “homiletics” as “public speaking,” “church administration” as “non-profit management,” “church history” as “history,” and so forth. If we are expecting pastors to get secular jobs, then our advanced degree should help, rather than hinder, that effort.

Clarify your dream for your life.

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Many of us are thinking this week about our accomplishments in the year past, and the things we hope to do in the year ahead. Some of these are personal quality of life topics, while others are more about our professional or work lives. Often we try to think and function as though these were separate and disconnected spheres, only overlapping or impacting each other during a heavy work project, on sick days or at the company holiday party. My own experience and observation indicates that an integrated life is a happier and healthier life – one where our personal and work lives overlap in healthy and beneficial ways. A great example of this is the growing trend in flexible work situations where people can be more effective and efficient at work because they are able to also accommodate their family needs, including caring for children, spouses and aging parents.

As we move into the new year, we do well to clarify our life dreams alongside our short term personal and professional goals. Otherwise, we may invest years and even decades into valuable endeavors only to discover far too late that we have failed to build the life we most wanted. When we have clarity around our life dream(s), then we can make choices each day that will move us in that direction, and can gather a community of advocates who will help us along the way.

DASL
Consider the possibility that your life needs more DASL. I’m not asking you to add bling with glitter and rhinestones. No, DASL stands for Dream ~ Articulate  ~ Share ~ Live. Dreaming is something that happens inside of our hearts, minds and imaginations. Our dreams want to come out, so we learn to articulate them, even when they do not seem to make sense to us, or seem irrational, unbelievable, impossible. Next we share this articulation of our dreams with others. We do this for several reasons. When we share, we hear ourselves and our dreams, and we come to believe in them more. We also continue to refine our articulation of our dreams. Plus, when others hear our articulation of our dreams, then they ask questions, catch the vision, begin sharing our dream, and experience an upwelling of their own dreams. This process naturally unfolds into the reality of living our dreams. When you see it, clarify it, and tell it, you begin organically to live it, and you find resources in people, ideas, tools, and energy that will help make the dream a reality.

Where is my dream?
If you already have a dream trying to burst forth, and you know it intimately, then the hardest work is already done. But what if you don’t have a dream, or can’t see/remember because it lies buried under obligation, fear or grief? In an upcoming post we will consider some techniques to uncover or discover your dream (personally or professionally). For now, go back to the last dream you remember having, and practice DASL with that. And when you’re ready to talk, let me know.