Toolbox For Faith

“Dancing with the Tensions” is the title of an article that John Halfacre, one of my members, wrote for Principle Leadership, an educational journal, in November 2004 and which has been recently incorporated into a new book. As I read the article last week, I kept thinking that he had, also, perfectly described the life of a pastor. The article is based on the concept of “tensions of opposites” from an exchange in the book, Tuesdays with Morrie.

I immediately applied it to the tensions in my life. I have two Ash Wednesday Services today and then extra services each week until Easter. At the same time, I have people whom I need to contact. I know that worship is one of the most important tasks that I do but a pastor is in the people business. The tension is “how do I divide up my limited time?”

Adding to those tensions is getting everything done at the office so that I can attend a continuing education event in six days where I will be gone for a week and the many tasks that require doing at our house along with needed family time. I can’t leave out the pastor’s administrative duties including reports that I try to ignore but people keep reminding me are past due. And to think, I am retired and only supposed to be working part time so I should only have part time tensions.

John notes in his article that the work of principles (and I would add pastors) “is filled with paradoxical dilemmas and days in which the questions are complex and void of definitive answers.” Experience helps but no matter how many years one has been in the ministry, each day offers unique tensions that challenge even the best. Some days, I make excellent mistakes.

What I have learned over the years is that it is not the tensions that are the dilemma but how you deal with the tensions. That is why each morning on the way to my office, I take time to thank the Lord for the opportunities that are before me and ask for wisdom to deal with them. Solomon has the right idea. I still “dance with the tensions” but find peace when I take time to reflect on God granting me his wisdom. The quandary is that as I “dance with the tensions, “ I have to remember to reflect on God’s wisdom rather than the anxieties present in God’s world.