01-23-26

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
January 23, 2026
I just returned from Nashville, where I was gathering with some amazing clergy. I am not a person who feels imposter syndrome very often, but these were some impressive individuals who are doing some extraordinary things. I felt blessed to spend time with them. Yesterday morning, our speaker was Dr. Jaco J. Hamman, Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture at Vanderbilt University. I was totally engaged by what he shared, and in a world where we are told that we should find balance in our lives, he suggested that no one actually finds balance. He pointed out how even walking requires us to be a little off balance, assuming we want to move forward. He suggested that we should seek to be deliberately off balance, in the sense that different periods of life will require a lot of energy focused in one segment of life, but for that time, we are deliberately choosing to be off balance. Because of those more intense and demanding periods of life, we must acknowledge how the other parts of life that had to be sacrificed for a time will probably require some attention now that the demanding time has passed. There will be those who might tell us how the goal is to have some semblance of balance over one’s entire life, but that could require spreadsheets and daily tracking of how we spent our time. That’s not going to work for me, so maybe it’s about mindfulness, internal times of returning to the now for an assessment of our lives—our relationship, which includes self, family, friends, and God. And in that assessment, an awareness of where we are physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Where do we need to refill? Where do we need to reconnect? What might need to be released so we are able to replenish? In the end, I like what Dr. Hamman shared with us. Like walking, if we are going to move forward, we need to be deliberately off balance.

Your grace has the power to call me back to the now, giving me both permission and the process by which I can take a needed assessment of my life. Giver of that grace, I solicit your guidance at every step of the way, as this does not come easily for me. Amen.