Regaining Rhythm in Leadership

Regaining Rhythm in Leadership

                  The single most common response of clergy to the question “How are you?” is that they are very tired. The most common advice in response to this answer is “Then why don’t you take a vacation?” And the most common clergy response to this advice is … well … you probably already know the answer.

                Normally clergy have been able to rest over the summer and enter the fall with new energy. The new normal is that clergy are even more tired at the end of the summer and are not looking for much relief anytime soon. The same can be said for most social service and health care professionals in any sector, but clergy fatigue is unique. It’s a perfect storm of future uncertainty, technological inadequacy, relational adversity, and (more than most clergy may be willing to admit) spiritual malaise.

                The rhythm of leadership in the past did not really vary much. Each pastor or priest followed a fairly predictable daily, weekly, and annual pattern. Time was regularly set aside for sermon preparation, worship, pastoral care, meetings, service, self-improvement, family time, special occasions, liturgical events, and so on. Emergencies interrupted the pattern, but even these fit within a larger plan to listen for God and love our neighbors. Nevertheless, emergencies were always the exception to the pattern; now emergency has become the pattern. The breakdown of past routine is forcing us to recover … or even discover for the first time … a personal spiritual discipline.

This is not a crisis of faith. It is more like a crisis of endurance. Leadership made “musical harmonies”. But it is difficult to make music when you are continually out of breath. The routines of church life have been disrupted both professionally and personally. Clergy know the lyrics but have lost the rhythm.

This is not a crisis of calling. It is more like a crisis of concentration. Our struggle to write a coherent sermon mirrors our struggle live a cohesive week. Leadership made “grammatical sense”. Even if the sentences of our weeks and the paragraphs of our seasons were occasionally disrupted by a big SHOCK! or tripped over a misspelllled word, each sentence still had a subject, object, and verb and each paragraph still had a beginning and end and made an intelligible point. Now everyday seems to filled with ambiguity and begin with an exclamation point!

What we need is to restore a rhythm in leadership. Over the years, we have gradually confused professional church leadership with personal spiritual life. We assumed that sermon preparation, worship design, group bible study, opening and closing prayers in formal gatherings, recreational meditation, serving soup to the homeless, and hasty appeals for the presence of God en route to hospitals can take the place of a rich, inward, spiritual life. That was a “to do” list. It was never soulful exercise. It is that rhythm, however you personally organized it, that has been thrown into chaos. That is why we are so tired. How can rhythm be restored? The way to restore rhythm is not take a vacation but exercise the soul. Here’s how.

Personal

Exercise for the soul should be quite natural. It conforms to your unique personality and leadership type. I have had a lifelong interest in medieval history. It amuses me to hear visitors in a museum comment on how uncomfortable a suit of armor must have been. In fact, the opposite was true. Craftsman tailored a suit of armor for each unique and individual physiology. They were so finely crafted as to “fit like a glove”. They were like a second layer of skin … more like a scuba diver’s wet suit than a metal protection. Armor did not cramp your muscles; it moved with the man.

Exercise for the soul is tailored for the individual. One size does not fit all. It is not borrowed from a book or imported from some other time, place, or circumstance. It is not adopted but adapted. When St. Paul urges us to put on the “whole armor of God”, he is not asking us squeeze into someone else’s clothes or to carry an uncomfortable burden. He is asking us to put on a second … and thicker … skin. The belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the Spirit adapt and infuse daily life. Its not extraordinary behavior, but ordinary behavior. It is who we are both spontaneously and daringly.

Routine

                Spiritual exercise is often ignored or postponed to a “quiet time” that never arrives. It is part of a list of good things to do that we never get around to doing and always feel guilty about forgetting. It needs to be embedded into the routine of living and become as much of a habit as brushing your teeth.

                What is important is not how long you do it but the regularity with which you do it. What stops us is the assumption that spiritual exercise must take time to be significant. Yet even a few moments, routinely observed, can shape the day. Rhythm is all about getting started on the right foot and not the wrong foot. The pace of life conforms with the first few steps.

                What is important is not creativity but memory. What stops us is the assumption that we must reinvent each day of spiritual exercise. We spend so much time thinking about what to say and do that we don’t say or do anything. Spiritual exercise, like physical exercise, is really about repetition. The body remembers. The soul remembers. You do the same things over and again; you practice the same ritual over and again. It may seem “mindless”, but it is very “soulful”. Words, images, and music are triggers to the memory and anchor your new day in past history.

Portable

                Daily routine is useless unless it is combined with portable spirituality. You carry the memory with you throughout the day. It is engrained into your unconscious. It is constantly present and can surface unbidden whenever the circumstances of your life call for hidden strength and clarity of purpose. Portable spirituality is instinctive.

You instinctively respond to every lie by stating the truth; intervene in any injustice confident in righteousness; walk every sidewalk with shoes of peace; defend every vulnerable human being by covering them with the shield of faith; proclaim hope for the hopeless wearing the helmet of salvation. Whenever you encounter evil, your sword flashes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that are the fruits of the Spirit.

Portable spiritual exercises have always been a part of Christian living. It is why clergy wear collars and laity wear crosses. Some carry prayer beads. Others memorize Psalms. Some repeat the three great prayers of Christendom (i.e. the Lord’s Prayer, the Jesus Prayer, and the Serenity Prayer) so often that the words come unbidden to their thoughts anywhere at any time. Others repeat personal mantras and sing especially meaningful songs. Still others create their own prayer customized to their personal calling or individual life struggle.

Focal

                The value of key words, symbolic images, and devotional objects is that they help us focus on what is essential in life so that we can survive the accidents of life. I call these “talismans” because they are both symbols of meaning and portals through which we sense the immediacy of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual exercise incorporates such talismans as sensory triggers for spiritual memory.

                The choice of talisman is very personal and can change over time. It does not need to be expensive, beautiful, or even overtly religious. Talismans engage one or more of the senses. The very sight, touch, taste, sound, and/or smell reveals a deeper meaning that grounds and centers us. We are less likely to be distracted or sidetracked, overwhelmed, or demotivated.  This is why tattoos are so common in pop culture, or why mantras and slogans are so important in organizations. They keep you focused on what is important.

                Many clergy feel overwhelmed and chronically depressed. Like so many people today, they feel helpless during so many crises. What stabilizes us is the turn inward … the spiritual exercises uniquely shaped to our individual souls and infusing personal lifestyles.  Spiritual exercise renews our energy and gives us hope.