Tag: time

T is for Time … Spirituality A to Z

Posted on by cmryan

There’s no way I could look at the letter “T” and not think about Time as part of Spirituality.

I was reminded today about letting go of the pressures we place on ourselves toward achieving goals, completing projects, or meeting deadlines. Instead, it’s about creating an attitude of relying on the Universal Flow of Life to achieve all that is needed for our greatest Good…in Spirit Speed. This can be a difficult pill to swallow, especially if you’re determined to accomplish certain things by certain ages of life. It is for me.

I’m not sure exactly when it started, but I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Time. I love it when I have more than I need or expect, and hate it when there doesn’t seem to be enough. Of course, this is totally ludicrous. Every second, minute, hour, and day are exactly the same length for every one of us. It’s what we stuff inside those allotments or leave empty that determine our level of foolishness in dealing with Time.

It’s easy for me to recognize when I’m going over the crazy edge of trying to do too much in too little Time or for too long a Time (that workaholic tendency). There are obvious signs of frustration: conciseness in my conversations; deep breaths to calm myself; spinning or moving from one project to another; being easily distracted to the point that I don’t accomplish as much as I could if I just focused on one task at a Time…to completion.

I have clocks in every room. Time is noted on the computer, the cell phone, and in the car. Rarely do I go anywhere without a watch on my clockwrist. My weekly presentations are rehearsed and all segments are well-planned to meet the expectations of Sunday’s service staying within the 60-minute hour. In a culture that seems to thrive on short attention spans and instant gratification, the idea of long walks, leisurely lunches, long-term projects, or relaxing vacations can seem almost foreign to many people, including me. Such ideas of balance and rest actually bring more anxiety as my mind tries to “catch up” with what I’m not doing in a moment of relaxation.

The truth is the concept of Time will be around long after I’ve left this too-busy craziness. My greatest triumph over Time is to have as much of it and for as long as I can. While I agree with George Bernard Shaw in being “…totally used up when I die…,” I would prefer not to accelerate the process. As I seek a more balanced life in the variety of activities I pursue (or not), that includes how much Time and energy I spend on each of them.

There are moments when I see the futility of trying to force Life into being what I demand it to be rather than seeing it for what it is: a beautiful series of unfolding moments filled with wonder and connection, love and joy, and the completion of those things that are most important in that moment or stage of life…they do get done…everything in its own Time by the hands doing the work. The rest is finished in Spirit Speed.

The Speed of Church

Posted on by cmryan

There are times when I get a little frustrated about how slowly tasks are being completed in both my personal and professional life, about a hot summer day dragging on and on, or anxiously waiting for a special event to arrive. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Time since childhood. Fortunately, it’s become more peaceful as I’ve learned to manage my activities better, to pace myself through the days or years…and still I have more to learn.

When I was a kid my chore list seemed endless. To make things a bit more interesting, I would time myself to see how quickly I could get a particular task completed. As long as my efforts passed inspection the first time, I considered my work successful and my timing accurate. However, if I had to redo the task, the time was invalidated until the next attempt. For example, by the time I was 15 years old, I could clean a full bathroom, including tile walls, floors, fixtures, mirrors, counters and replace the towels, in less than 17 minutes AND pass mom’s inspection. The sooner I completed the chore list, the sooner I could move on to what I wanted to do.

I took this need for speed in my work to the corporate world. In particular, the area of marketing and sales support always seemed to have a critical time-based deadline to everything that needed to be done. I was a perfect fit and thrived in this environment for years. The skill to create documents and assorted materials within a short time limit still comes in handy on a weekly basis as a minister.

I’m grateful I have this ability to get things done so quickly and, in most cases, they still pass the critical eye of inspection without error. In the past 40 years I can recall only two times when I missed a specific deadline and faced the consequence of an unhappy boss or client. Funny how I remember those two disappointments and not the thousands of times I was successful.

Somewhere along the way I stopped using the stopwatch and started marking time by days, weeks, months and years. Things still get stopwatchaccomplished, projects are completed in a timely manner, and yet the urgency to get it all done today has slipped away. I’ve learned, through my years of working with a church behind the scenes and now as a church leader, that tasks do get done – some sooner than others. Yet, eventually, progressively, what is truly needed in the moment will be tended to and completed…  until the next revision demands more.

The overall idea is that this church or spiritual community will be here for the duration or life of its members. It’s not going anywhere as long as we are attentive to what’s important – each other.  So what’s the rush? It’s true that Sunday service comes around with amazing regularity, the bills and staff must be paid by a certain date, and materials need to be created for a planned workshop, meeting or event. Everything else will unfold in absolutely perfect timing… perfect unfoldment.

There’s a lot of Trust involved – in one’s self and those who share in the responsibilities. Trust that we’re all doing the best we can with what we have to work with. Trust that the most important tasks will be done first; the rest will be handled eventually. Trust that the “speed of church” efforts are different from the high-stress, demanding deadlines of my past, but still as effective. Trust that our organization is not suffering from lack of attention or love or care. Trust that balance and rest are as important as busyness and productivity. And Trust that we’re in the right place at the right time… right now… this moment… which is all the time we have anyway.

Quality of Life

Posted on by cmryan

One of the privileges I have as a teacher of Spiritual Principles is that I get to continue to learn them…over and over and over again. As my students are introduced to various spiritual texts, I get to review the pages and passages that opened my eyes and heart the first time I read the writings. I find peace in the highlighted phrases and joy in the scribbles in the margins…and I smile.

On most days those notations are enough to lift my spirit and remind me how lucky I am to have found such a foundation of faith and to practice it through my ministry. On other days I must delve further into the texts for the inspiration that will most certainly uplift my consciousness and release the mental burdens…the heavy weight of my unceasing plans and constant doing-ness…under which I place myself.

“You were not made for failure, no matter who you are, nor how much you know, nor what anyone has told you. God is your prosperity. God, the Most High, is your defense. God, the Absolute Good, is your friend.”                                 ~Emma Curtis Hopkins

It is important to remind myself of “first things first” when I start spinning from all the mental activity and ideas circulating in my head. What do I focus on? How much can I really do and do well? What is actually mine to do?  While my current life theme may be “simplicity,” it also must include the element of “balance” to address and achieve those tasks that are mine to complete on a daily or weekly basis…and into the distant future.

My intent is to create a quality of life that is improving and ever-expanding in all directions: spiritual/physical… work/play… home/community… relationships/solitude… activity/rest… learning/teaching… in an evenly-paced and sane approach of longevity and growth. Up until a few years ago, I would get so excited about the possibilities for expansion and the opportunities to learn or do, that I would work myself into an unsustainable frenzy of activity. It would be inevitable that a crash would occur …physically, mentally, emotionally…forcing me to rest, re-evaluate and recover from this self-inflicted abuse of over-doing.

My insatiable desire to learn all I can within this human lifetime, I’m sure, has something to do with my high level of activities, my growing collection of unread books, website searches on a myriad of topics, my eagerness to listen to the wisdom of others (conversations, classes, lectures, etc.), and my misguided enthusiasm to take on more than I can reasonably handle in a given day. Fortunately, I’ve become more aware of this destructive and innate pattern of behavior, and am now able to slow down the mental spinning to a more balanced and consistent forward movement. But more is needed.

clockThankfully, I’m willing to ASK for help, recommendations, suggestions or guidance when I feel lost. An idea, posed by a loving partner with whom I recently shared these darting thoughts, is being implemented, starting today:  Block out my schedule for various activities/tasks throughout the day/week and stick to it!

It sounds simple, right? Balanced? Logical? It’ll be interesting to see how my ego committee mind reacts to this “novel” idea. Yet, you and I both know this is not a new approach. I’ve brought it up before when I shared my work-aholic tendencies and the “power of an hour” concept of achieving things. However, I obviously need more than just an hour-by-hour plan. I’m adding a long-term view for a higher quality of life.

The wonderful part about this idea is that I have the freedom to create the schedule, starting today. The new blocks of time include spending more time with God than with projects, trading technology for daily periods of meditation, working only six days each week (for now), expanding my  exercise options, increasing creative art and gardening activities, and reading more books.  My aim is eventually to take off from work two full, consecutive days each week. Can you imagine that? I do. And so it is!