Writing

I've realized it would be a lot easier to write if I was teaching rather than pastoring. The two weeks I spent at CLBI I actually thought through some things from start to finish. This was not because I had more time -- I actually had less discretionary time there than I do around home most weeks -- but because the "thinking" time I had came in large blocks and part of the job was thinking through things theologically or topically so that I could present them in class. What's more, many of the topics extended from one day to the next, so I was thinking through something for several days.

Pastoring is different. You get fifteen minutes here or twenty there to think, and most of the time that is focused on a sermon that will be quite different next week. There's little continuity to think something through in depth. Plus the nature of the job is that there are frequent interruptions that rightly demand attention. So it's difficult to take a topic and think it through to the point where one would even realize it's worth writing about, let alone actually getting it written. Once you know you want to write about something, it's not hard to set aside time for it. But most days I just don't feel like I've got a thought that's worth troubling someone else to read.

So there's today's insight -- that and the fact that when it rains hard, then snows, then rains hard some more, and the slush on the roadway starts to build up, it's VERY easy to hydroplane. Had several adrenaline moments this morning where the pickup decided to head for the ditch, but once speed dropped below about forty-five we regained control and got back into our lane. Lesson learned? Take your time.