Life Editing

While researching for an upcoming message, I ran across a movement called Tiny Houses.  The idea is all about downsizing our homes to the point that we only have what really matters.  The useful stuff and meaningful stuff in life.  While I could care less what size home someone has, the concept seemed very interesting.  As one who loves sailboats, I understand  getting the most out of small spaces.

My research also revealed that this movement is really a subset of a larger group of people that are doing what is known as Life Editing. This consists of people who are interested in editing all the unnecessary stuff out of their lives so they have time for the stuff that matters.  This could include things like clearing all the clutter in our homes, getting rid of all the stuff that we have accumulated over all the years that is no longer used.  It might also include editing commitments in our lives or our work schedules, etc...  Anything that will free up time to do the things in life that really matter.

The Tiny House movement of course isn't for everyone, but imagine the time saved in cleaning, the money saved in utilities, lack of long term payments for pay off, and owning just the stuff you need.  For many, that doesn't sound too bad.

I think we could all use some life editing in various areas.  While it may not be extreme like living in a Tiny House, there are probably things in your life that could be edited so you can focus on the things that matter.

Interesting view?

Was  reading Seth Godin's blog today and was wondering if there might be a connection to our faith and churches.

What follows is from www.sethgodin.typepad.com

Sold or bought?

Some things are bought--like bottled water, airplane tickets and chewing gum. The vendor sets up shop and then waits, patiently, for someone to come along and decide to buy.
Other things are sold--like cars, placement of advertising in magazines and life insurance. If no salesperson is present, if no pitch is made, nothing happens.
Both are important. Both require a budget and a schedule and a commitment.
Confusion sets in when you're not sure if your product or service is bought or sold, or worse, if you are a salesperson just waiting for people to buy.
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While this blog is set in business terms I wonder if there is a connection to how we view our faith?  What happens to the Christian faith if no pitch is made - we lessen our chances of others knowing Christ.  The same is true of churches.  We can set up shop and just hope that someone comes in, but with no pitch we lessen our odds.  Just something to think about.

Insulate Yourself?

Much of my reading these days is related to Leadership.  With that in  mind I subscribe to Seth Godin's blog, www.sethgodin.typepad.com .  I found today's blog very interesting and thought I'd share as there is a lot of wisdom in what he has to say...

Insulate yourself...

From anonymous angry people
Expose yourself to art you don't yet understand
Precisely measure the results that are important to you
Stay blind to the metrics that don't matter
Fail often
Ship
Lead, don't manage so much
Seek out uncomfortable situations
Make an impact on the people who matter to you
Be better at your baseline skills than anyone else
Copyedit less, invent more
Give more speeches
Ignore unsolicited advice

Skimming

While reading material by Ron Martoia I was struck by a concept he was using - Skimming...

"I think this skimming is an indicator of our inability to go deep.And when you skim, there is a numbness that happens."

My take on his stuff is that technology that was created to help us become more efficient, has really become what bogs us down.  This has created life density.  With more and  more technology we have less and less time to go in depth...Twitter, Email, Blogging, Heytell, fill in your favorite technological short burst information gathering  fix! Because of the diversity of information available we choose to get it in short bursts - skimming verses going in depth, or at least we run the risk of this happening.

Then I remembered Ron telling us that we should seriously consider adding quiet time to our daily spiritual lives just as the monastics have for what seems like forever.  He also noted, as I have to many in my churches, it's good to have a day away from technology periodically, at least Email, Cell Phone, Twitter, etc...

Funny thing is, that as this information arrived, I found myself in the middle of a great monastic documentary called "Into Great Silence" on Netflix.  It's 161 minutes of following Monks as they live out their lives in a cloistered community - and as the title notes - it's mostly silence.  Seriously, except for calling the cats and chanting, it's silence.  Unless you're into monasticism and spiritual disciplines, this documentary will not be for you!  These men have taken this spiritual discipline of quiet time to another level!

I must admit that I do try to practice this spiritual discipline of having a quiet time,but I must also confess that I am a slave to Email and I text quite a bit. (I have refrained form having a Facebook account) I must also note that I am guilty of what Ron is referring to as skimming.  I have also found that when I have a conversation void of technology with my wife or daughters it does go much more in depth and is more meaningful. 

So, I like Ron's concept of skimming and I think that technology has its place. But be careful allowing it to create life density and shy us away from in depth meaningful moments  in life.

That's just my take on it, your mileage may vary!

How did I get into this?

Several months ago I decided to give running a try.  Why?  I'm not sure.  I'm in relatively good  shape, working out weekly at a nearby gym.  The gym is also where I go to share the church/Christ oddly enough.  Most there know that I'm a minister and they refer to me as "Rev".  I spend a ton of time discussing theological issues there.

Back to running...

One  day I decided that I haven't given it a try so I  thought I'd add it to the long list of attempted things in my life. I started out with just a jog for a mile but within about 4 weeks I ran 10 miles without stopping with another minister friend of mine.  Boy did that make me tired!  Since then, I have stuck with it completing several long runs (for me) including most recently 12 miles without stopping.  I enjoy running the local greenways the most.

If you aren't regularly exercising then I hope you'll consider it.  Walking or running can be a blast, especially outdoors - and yes, I will run in the winter outdoors as well.

Outdoor Weekend

Early Wednesday I decided to declare the weekend an outdoor weekend.

Thursday Night - it all really started on Thursday night with a night dive at the Madison Quarry - a local scuba park with sunken stuff - boats, planes, rockets, cars, etc...  What you see in the picture is a diver at night with their light on.  It's a really cool scene you see several divers illuminating the water with their underwater lights!

Friday - Decided to do a 100 mile motorcycle ride to Lake Guntersville.

Saturday -  Drove to Bucks Pocket with my daughter and explored the park and an incredible dry creek bed with boulders taller than my house.  After getting home hiked the Wade Mountain Green Trail.

Sunday - hiked  the Green Mountain Green Trail once again.

It was nice to get away from the normal stuff of life just to be outdoors.  If you haven't tried an outdoor weekend then I would highly recommend it.  This has personally made me  consider being outdoors more than ever.

Jesus knew what he was doing when he decided to occasionally withdraw from the crowds.

Eye Opener

I am currently reading the book unChristian.  WOW!  Is it an eye opener on how those outside the church see us on the inside.  It is not pretty!

One of the alarming statistics is that we appear to be losing the 16-29 year old's at an alarming rate.

In order to become relevant again for all ages, the churches I serve are in the process of taking a critical look at how relevant we are in our own community.  Some of our conclusions weren't so good.  We recognized that we may have lost some of our relevancy related to our Vision Statement - Taking Risks to Change Lives.

We are now in the process of visioning for our future, attempting  to live up to our Vision Statement.

This process, while tough to swallow at first, has created intense excitement.  We are visioning for the future,  trying to determine what we need to do to be relevant and edgy in a world  that is rapidly changing.

It's an exciting place to be in the life of our churches!