Practices: God Loves Me When I Sing

Every morning I read from two meditation manuals and then journal.  Today this quote from Rabindranath Tagore appeared in one of my manuals - "God respects me when I work, but God loves me when I sing."

Ministers tend to overwork.  If you have that unhealthy tendency, this calling will feed it with the unfair expectation that you work all the time and are available every minute of every day.  You will have to strive against that expectation AND any workaholic tendencies in order not to burn yourself to a crisp.

In my experience, this unfair expectation comes partly from me and partly from the laity.  Clearly, it helps to set more realistic expectations of myself. It would also help me and my successors if I could help my church learn fairer expectations of ministers.  Many of us overwork because of unfair expectations.

Farmers also overwork!

Personal history contributes to my tendency to overwork.  Growing up on a family farm is a great way to learn workaholism.  Most days, from spring through harvest, we had to work every possible daylight hour.  Sometimes overworking repeats or re-enacts history.

Finally, sometimes I overwork to avoid a painful issue, feeling or even (dare I admit it?) intimacy. Overwork can numb pain, grief, and loneliness, but by preventing closeness, it can also create loneliness, pain and grief. 

Letting painful stuff surface, then coping with it (with the help of trained professionals!  See my forthcoming post on pit crews!) has lessened my tendency to workaholism.  Having time for closeness with family, friends, partners (if you're lucky enough to have one) is a better antidote than work.

So putting it all together, overwork-prevention may include

1. creating fairer expectations in one's self and among those you serve
2. breaking the bad habit of overwork
3. addressing painful stuff underlying overworking, with the support of loving people
4. oh, and one not mentioned yet - finding things that bring you fulfilling joy - singing!

Tagore suggests that though God respects us when we work, God loves us when we sing.  What makes your soul sing?  Dancing does it for me.  Gentle Readers, let's try, each day this week, to do one thing that makes our souls sing.  You with me?

Day 3:  9.5 hours of sleep last night (no nap)
10 hours of work
Fairly good nutrition.  Not enough time to exercise, again.  Boo.
Watched Ghostbusters 2 with my kid.  Yay.

Assessment: better on the sleep - but still in the B range in terms of self care
Appraisal -  dark circles under the eyes are waning, but this rebound is going to take some time.