As I sit in the church office preparing for the 4th
Sunday of Advent as well as Christmas Eve worship, my to do list is filled with
what you might expect: finalize bulletins, lock in readers, make sure we have
enough candles.
What you might not think would be on my calendar are the
items that need to be done for the time after
Christmas: plan January worship and sermon series, do reading and lesson
planning for Bible Study on human sexuality, develop leadership goals and plans
for 2019.
When I was early in ministry, I approached Christmas (and
Easter) much like college students approach final exams: the closer you get,
the more everything else goes on
hold. As if life after exams doesn’t really matter. It will happen. You will get
to it when it comes.
The problem with taking such an approach to Christmas for a
pastor is that time keeps (blessedly) moving steadily along. And if you’re not
careful, you can back off so much that February comes somewhere at the end of
the haze of getting caught back up after Christmas.
I suspect it is not only pastors who struggle with the
temptation to put off everything else till after Christmas. Have you heard (or
said) any of these lines:
·
I’ll get serious about eating healthy again
after Christmas.
·
We can figure out our finances after we get
through Christmas.
·
I will make exercising a priority after the
holidays.
·
We’ll get in a good cleaning routine after the
new year.
You get the idea.
There are all good, laudable goals. The problem is, we are
quite good at putting off that which we ought at least to be somewhat mindful
of today. Launching full steam into marathon training and going vegetarian over
the holidays might not be practical, but laying aside all attention to healthy
eating and incorporating exercise into our days isn’t healthy ort helpful
either.
This past Thanksgiving, as my family has done for a number
of years, Chris and I ran a 5k Turkey Trot in the morning. I exercise daily,
but have done less outdoor running recently, offering the excuse that the hills
which abound in our new neighborhood are downright unappealing. The Turkey Trot
course took us over several rolling hills—and I missed my target time by less
than three minutes. I was frustrated, realizing that I’d psyched myself out.
And that if I’d stopped grumbling so much about the hills around our house, I
could easily have achieved my goal.
That next week, I determined to overcome my grumbling about
running hills. And so I did some research. In a video online, one expert said I
had to make friends with the hill.
What?
Friends, yes. With hills!
What she meant was I had to stop fighting the hill. Doing
what I had been unsuccessfully trying: attempting to power over the hill when I
had little experience even holding pace. Instead, she suggested not trying to
maintain speed but rather maintain effort. As the hill gets steeper, run a bit
slow, take steps a bit smaller, but maintain my form and effort. One of the
worst things to do is try to sprint up the hill and tell yourself you’ll slow
down or walk for a break after you do so. Turns out that just slows you down
and kills your pace.
My first run after that instruction felt like night and day
compared to how I’d been running hills. I mentally paced myself, and kept
repeating “Maintain effort,” over and over in my head as I ran. I no doubt ran
a bit slower on some hills, but you know what? I ran a much faster speed
overall, and felt far better after the run than I’d usually felt after a run on the same course.
This Christmas, I invite you to try to avoid sprinting
through the season. Pace yourself in healthy ways so that you don’t crash after
Christmas, or put off until January tasks and habits that would be better begun
today. Even in the midst of the holiday season. Be gracious with yourself, but
don’t procrastinate on important behaviors that help you be a good steward of
your time, talents and resources.
May this Christmas and New Years season be a time of healthy
habits, not putting off till tomorrow that which you can begin today, and
pacing yourself in ways that feed your spirit and provide space and time to
grow in your relationship with God and others!
