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Archive for the ‘Doing’ Category

What To Leave Undone

February 18, 2025

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, master the noble art of leaving other things undone. Life wisdom also involves the elimination of nonessentials.” -Lin Yutang (early 20^th Century Chinese philosopher)

Think of obsessive people you know who are trying to get too many things done, while accomplishing little of note and antagonizing others along the way.

Then look into the metaphorical mirror. Perhaps you can say with the cartoon character Garfield, “I resemble that remark.”

Author and podcast host Tim Ferriss recently revived work on a book on the power to say no.

Wisdom from ancient times tells us that only an empty container is useful. If you are filled with many tasks, many worries, many places to go, then you have no room for being and for doing the important work.

If this post seems a rerun of something I wrote a few days ago, perhaps God places certain reading in my awareness to send a message. I pay attention when similar thoughts appear within a short time period. Gotta be a message there.

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The Healing is in the Trying

January 27, 2025

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks suddenly on my plate. Then I pause. Breathe deeply. And try just one thing.

Sometimes I stare at the document on my computer. I need to finish a column I owe to a magazine. A combination of too many thoughts in a convoluted ballroom dance conflict with a total vacuum of what to say that is relevant.

I just begin to write something. Anything. Just the trying leads to a flow and a focus.

Several stories from people dealing with grief have come my way. From the depths of the seeming loss of everything meaningful, they begin to try things. Go out to a coffee shop. Meet a friend. Take a walk in nature or even the neighborhood.

Sometimes we use the word “try” in the sense of non=commitment—“I’ll try to do it.” That is where the Zen philosopher Yoda said, “Do or do not—there is no try.”

Sometimes “try” means just starting. We don’t know if it will work. We don’t know if it is the right thing. But it is something. And we have to try something. We must get started.

And therein lies the healing.

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Advice and Consultants

January 16, 2025

The first time I was hired as a consultant I felt so unfulfilled afterward. My career was management and engineering. The manager of a local non-profit agency hired me to help sort out a problem. I did the research and wrote a report. Then, I walked away. What I did helped him. But I was an implementer by training.

Yes, I’ve had consulting gigs (paid and not-paid) since. I’ve learned the role of researching and providing advice. Sometimes the results are rewarding.

Seth Godin packs a lot of wisdom into his writing. He’s generous giving it away for free. His recent blog post on Good Advice suggests

The cult of consulting suggests that if you simply had better advice from someone who knew more than you, your problems could be solved. Generally, the advice isn’t really the hard part. There’s endless good advice just a click away. The art is in creating the conditions for people to choose to act on the advice. Good advice unheeded is a waste for everyone involved. That’s why expensive consultants can stay in business, and why committing to a process before you’re sure of all the details makes it far more likely that you’ll succeed.

We find in the Book of Proverbs that a wise leader seeks multiple sources of advice.

Advice is only half of the battle. Committing to the process of implementation finishes the work.

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Both Sides Now

November 25, 2024

Joni Mitchell sang, “I’ve looked at life from both sides now…”

The song shares the experiences of being on both sides of an emotion. I love that song.

Sometimes seeing both sides doesn’t seem to work.

Your side of a theology or political debate is criticized for some outlandish claim. Others see it as hateful, perhaps.

You respond, “But the other side does it, too.”

I’m trying to find a place where Jesus, upon being criticized for something, says “but the Pharisees do it, too.”

Following Jesus means, “but Jesus does it, too.”

Sometimes it’s not both sides now, but Jesus way. The hard part for us lays in learning and doing Jesus’ way.

And that is often hard.

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Planning and Doing

October 15, 2024

Personal productivity writer Oliver Burkeman asks if this describes you—merely the kind of person who spends your life drawing up plans for how you’re going to become a different kind of person later on. This will sometimes garner you the admiration of others, since it can look from the outside like you’re busily making improvements. But it isn’t the same at all.

Perhaps we read daily, maybe even including The Bible. We attend a worship service of some type sometimes. We study, make notes, make lists of what we’d like to do.

But we never do anything.

Where is the service? The kind word to a harried sales clerk? Picking up a package for someone? Listen to someone who needs to unload?

My theology tells me that life doesn’t end once I have encountered God. Rather, because I have encountered God I have a natural impulse to serve and help others. It has become an integral part of my life.

Of what use is drawing the plans for a new house if you never live in it?

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Preparing or Playing

September 11, 2024

John Shirk writes at The Catch website about NFL players returning from injuries. It’s appropriate for new players, as well. They can spend time watching films, discussing what offenses work best against which defenses, lifting weights.

Preparation is good, indeed essential for professional level performance. It matters not a bit if the player never enters the field of play and performs.

Let us consider us. How much time do we spend in preparation? Going to church, discussing why this theology is better than that theology, attending meetings to discuss church growth?

Jesus taught in the church of his day (synagogues). Almost all the stories that are told about him have him out in the community. Talking with curious and searching people. Healing physical ailments. Healing emotional ailments. Guiding. Mentoring.

I’d guess that the same should go for his disciples—those who claim to follow him. Is it time for us to get out of the training room and into the playing field?

{I ask that of me as well as challenging you.]

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How Do You Know a Christian?

September 10, 2024

How do you know a Christian? Is there a way to tell who is and who isn’t? Do you quiz them on their beliefs to see how well they line up with the Nicene Creed? Do you ask them if they’ve invited Jesus into their hearts? One answer is to check their behavior. If becoming united to Christ changes us, then one should expect to see those changes lived out in everyday life. A number of the Church Fathers suggested a test like this one, though the specific change they were looking for may come as a surprise.—Cody Cook

The early church grew in spurts when the people around them said, “I want what they’ve got.” How is it going for you?

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Character Inferred From Actions

August 19, 2024

A high school department existed long ago, maybe it still does for all I know, called Home Economics. The curriculum included how to prepare meals, how to eat the meals, how to sew clothes, and the like.

A scene from my high school days. Lunch time. The tables crowded. A group gathered around the HomeEc teacher. I remember her words as clearly today as then, “Do as I say, not as I do.”

That thought haunts me as I observe people who profess to follow Jesus—well, maybe they label themselves Christian— whose actions belie their proclamations.

Epictetus was a slave in the early first century in Rome who became a revered teacher. One of his thoughts went, “no man should ever profess to be a philosopher, but that each should leave this character to be inferred from his actions.”

I think Jesus uttered a similar thought to conclude his teaching, “Whoever hears my words and does them is like the man who builds his house upon rock.”

Sometimes the thought sneaks into my awareness that prods me to consider if I am only full of words not backed up by action. How about you? A thought for the day

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Preparing: All Fueled Up and Nowhere to Go

July 2, 2024

I am still thinking about being prepared.

Mise en Place—a concept or practice from cooking. You gather all the ingredients for a dish you are preparing assembled in order and even measured in small bowls or dishes. Now you are ready to begin the work of preparing the dish.

Rituals—Rex Stout in Nero Wolfe novels, Archie Goodwin dusts, gets out Wolfe’s fountain pen, fills it, makes sure it works, places the day’s mail on the desk, has the office ready when Wolfe comes to the office at 11. Wolfe places his freshly cut orchid in the vase, adjusts himself in his custom chair, checks his pen, flips through the mail. They are now ready to start work.

The question:

What good is all that preparation if one never starts cooking or writing or thinking?

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The Right Time or the Best Time

May 31, 2024

My usual condition goes something like this—I face a project, I think about the project, I foresee all the steps involved, I see the difficulties and obstacles, then I realize the project is past due. Then I go to work.

Waiting for the right time to get to work is never the right time.

Right now is the best time to begin.

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