Monday Morning Confessional

Last updated on: April 7, 2014 at 7:30 am by Tim Suttle

Monday Morning Confessional 2014-04-07T07:30:40-06:00 Tim Suttle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I confess that I’m somewhat preoccupied with questions regarding the use of time. I confess that this is primarily because I’m still engaged in a fight to take a consistent Sabbath. I failed again last week as I spent one day listening to Andrew Zirschky and being with friends. (It was well worth the time, though, and I’ll get a post up about AZ’s talk this week). My latest approach is to set my alarm for 5:30 every morning and get to work early before distractions and interruptions come. I’m also shifting around some of my other obligations to clear larger blocks for sermon prep. I know I’m a “big block of time” kind of worker. I need to be able to effort something for at least an hour before I can begin to hyper-focus and be productive. I’m hoping these will help.

I confess that Zirschky mentioned the way that kids are over-scheduled as one of the reasons for social media engagement. He glossed over it quickly, but I’m convinced it is a central issue. What kind of patterns are we setting for our children in terms of their pace of life. Between school, homework, sports practices, games, tournaments, music lessons, church, and family activities, our children are drastically overscheduled. Busy doesn’t mean important, and it rarely means happy or healthy. I don’t really have an answer, it’s just my confession that I’m thinking about this right now, and hoping to change some patterns.

I confess that sermon prep is still taking more time than it used to – or at least it seems that way to me. I confess that my suspicion is that I’m finally figuring out what it takes to write well, and learning there are no shortcuts. I know that I study a bit more than I used to before I actually begin writing. I also think I’ve learned that, for me, the real magic (if there is to be any), usually happens on the 3rd or 4th revision after the first rough draft – so getting to that 3rd or 4th revision is the key to writing well, which takes time.

I confess that I’m switching to Mac, hopefully this week. I confess that my biggest reticence is that I know Word really well, and have worked on it for a long, long time. I know a lot of time saving keyboard function shortcuts, and can format quickly. The switch to Pages is intimidating. I confess that my biggest hope is that Pages has a quicker way to insert em-dashes.

I confess that I finally updated the software on my iphone. What can I say, I’m a late adopter. I wish I would have done it sooner, because iOS7 is pretty slick, and my phone is functioning at a much higher level. I’m due for an upgrade, but have been putting it off because I’m not sure how much phone to get. I was poking around this morning and noticed that old iPhone 4’s are actually selling for a pretty fair amount, used. I’m thinking that if I can sell my old phone, I can finance the upgrade… will investigate further.

I confess that Shrink is officially in typesetting and design phase. I haven’t yet seen first pages, but hope to soon. I confess that I’m now on the prowl for endorsers. Anybody have an email for Eugene Peterson? I promise not to abuse it.

Okay friends, I made my confession. Now it’s time for yours:

Uncategorized

Andrew Zirschsky

Monday Morning Confessional

Previous Post

April 4, 2014

Rev.'s Take on Church Growth - the IED Methodology: A Little Friday Funny

Next Post

April 8, 2014 The Basic Fear that Dominates Your Life Far More Than You Realize

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion corruption Donald Trump elections Empire Entertainment Ezra Klein ideology Justice Lacan politics race Sports Ta-Nehisi Coates Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 March 2026 September 2025 March 2025 June 2024 January 2024 December 2023 May 2023 February 2023 October 2022 April 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 March 2020 September 2019 July 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I became queen through a beauty contest, hiding my Jewish identity at my cousin's advice. Who am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Vashti Esther Ruth Sarah