Hitting Close to Home

{Programming note:  This Saturday I will again be the monthly speaker at the Austin chapter of Reasons to Believe. The topic is “What is Science?” (an exploration of the questions we ask, the history of science, the scientific method and the nature of proof). The meeting is from 10-noon with donuts and coffee at 9:30.

Location:  Hill Country Bible Church, near the UT Campus, 405 W. 22nd Street.

Corner of San Antonio and W. 22^nd. They have torn up the paid parking lots west of the church. There may be street parking (metered), or you can try using the parking lot 1 block west at 22^nd and Nueces, which belongs to the Scientologists, though they are usually gracious about it, especially at that time of week.}

I discovered an acquaintance is also a blogger, and a recent post is very convicting. It’s about being late and the lies we believe to justify it. Of course, in some cultures, timeliness just isn’t even considered, everyone understands it and they get along fine. But here, we are ruled by time and money, and being late wastes both.

I do struggle with running late, and it is largely because I try to cram too much stuff in before I need to be somewhere, and often don’t leave enough time for delays (traffic, forgetting something (which tends to happen more often when you are running late!), or other issue). As Levi points out, you are either late or you are not, by how little or much is irrelevant.

Old School

Think back to the time when you first decided you wanted to be a professor. What did you imagine it would be like?

Hours in the lab or library finding either new cutting-edge or ancient discoveries?

Drawing new conclusions from apparently tired out data?

Teaching starry-eyed students waiting to hear wisdom pour forth like a refreshing mountain stream from your mouth?

Shaping the careers of future scholars in your research group like fresh clay in the hands of a master potter?

Writing monographs that revolutionize your field, drawing accolades from your academic idols?

Sitting in a richly furnished study talking over deep things with colleagues that have become close friends?

Yeah, me too.

Work Time and Relax Time

One of the struggles I face during the holidays is balancing recreation, family/holiday events and travel, household to-do’s, and work responsibilities. When doing one type of activity, I feel either like I ought or want to be doing one of the other.

Ecclesiastes 3 is a well-known passage, made famous by many artists through the song, “Turn, Turn, Turn.” It reminds us there are many disparate and conflicting activities in life and there are appropriate times for each. Even Jesus praying in John 17, declares to His Father that He accomplished everything that He had come to do—everything. Yet, there were still lepers, blind folks, demoniacs, and so on.

There is more to be done in this life than is possible for us to do, including work, play and other duties. I find that when I oscillate between the different tasks due to indecision or lack of focus, I end up wasting a lot of time and have to focus on one task and not allow anxiety to distract me.

What a daily battle.

SDG