I have had a very busy week. As well as the usual things there have been five extras that have added to the things to do list.
- I had a funeral to run. A funeral for me takes an extra eight hours of work at least. This one was "different" and probably took a little longer.
- I had an extra little Advent Sunday ecumenical candle lighting ceremony to prepare for, print stuff for and run.
- I had a radio Church service to record.
- My daughter and husband are away on holiday. They generally type and print up the Church newsletter but this week I had to do this job. On a Sunday morning they prepare some of the service power points, they slot the ones I do into the program, set up all the audio-visual equipment and operate the buttons during the service. Angela also helps with the radio service. I had to do all these tasks this week.
- Christmas Community Dinner always means extra phone calls and emails to deal to at this time of the year. Each day there were people to contact about this or some phone call to respond to.
All these meant more actual hours of work. But also for me each one meant extra stress levels. I have been a minister for decades, but I still get strung out about a funeral, a radio service and Sunday services. I lose sleep over these things. After Church we had lunch up town, then when we came home I went to bed for a rest and in two seconds I was out like a light. I was really like a drunk man. I wanted to get up and do something useful, or go do some exercise, but each time I thought about doing so I just blobbed out again... for about three hours. I must have needed the sleep. ... or was it the lovely Guinness I had with my lunch?
But I CAN do it and do it well!
This week has been stressful, but at the same time I finish the week with the feeling that I am good at my job. I stressed about the very different funeral. An intimate and small one. Somehow it is easier to take a big one from behind a lectern, or at least its more familiar. I realised that a totally different approach was needed for this one. But the good thing is I could do it and do it well. I adapted! It felt OK and I could tell I was being helpful and meaningful for those involved. Yesterday I worked on the things for today. I had read extensively for the service and had been nutting out how to communicate it. As time went on I gathered material together. I planned all the different things I had to do in my mind and how to schedule them. "First I'll do this and put it on a memory stick ... then I'll do that leaflet.. then I'll write up my final draft.. then I'll do the power points.. then.. and then..." It was about 7a.m. when my wife and I got to the Church this morning. The first service we had to host was at 9:15. It all went so smoothly. I followed my plan and worked through all I had to do, and was so ready I could go up at 9:05 and chat with people arriving. For the next service also everything fell into place and while leading I could tell people were "with me". I "done good". The Genesis myth has God working on creation and five times it says; "And God saw that it was good". In the final day it says, "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." Well I look back on this week and even though I have not felt confident, and I stressed out frequently, and sometimes thought and said, "I can't do this!" ... as I look back I can say with pride... "I did it, and I did it well. I made a difference in people's lives! Oh yeah!"
Election blues
We in NZ had our general election yesterday. There were no surprises really. The National Party got back in and did so with an increased margin. I voted Labour so I am a bit blue today. I don't think Labour had the depth of leadership to carry the election. I am sad because I get the feel that with National the rich will get richer and the poor will be left behind. They tend to say that it is the poor's fault that they are poor. Now I am not naive enough to say that the poor never make bad choices. There are poor people I'd love to give a kick in the backside. But I am anguished by a lot of what I see. I see a growing divide between the computer literate and those who never have a chance to be that way. The simplest jobs these days often demand computer literacy. People make a few bad choices and often end up on the scrap heap of life and never catch up. Things like apprenticeships seem a thing of the past or out of the reach of many. In three out of my four chaplaincies people with responsible significant jobs are losing them. There seems to be no job security for so many people. I fear that National, even if it increases our efficiency and does balance the books, will increase these divides. The increased income will be enjoyed by the top relative few.
The other thing about National is that I just don't trust John Key. I think John Key is about John Key. He comes across smooth and smiling. His style has obviously won lots of voters. He has some sort of charisma... but ... the more I see of him the more I get concerned. He is pragmatic and will go with whatever suits at the time. I don't think he is a principled statesman. I just feel deeply uneasy and can't trust him. The one good thing about the election is that the Greens have "grown up". They doubled their share of the vote. They have well reasoned policies and a breadth of policy now that is much more attractive to "Mr and Mrs Average" kiwi. I wonder if they may even replace the labour party as the main left wing party some time in the future?
Anyway... I know the Labour Party is really in a rebuild mode and expected them to lose... but I am still sad the Tories won again.
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