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"To you, O Lord, silence is praise.”  Psalm 65, The Message Isaac of Nineveh, Syrian Monk wrote, "Silence will unite you to God himself. More than all things love silence: it brings you a fruit that tongue cannot describe. In the beginning we have to force ourselves to be silent. But then there is born something that draws us to silence. May God give you an experience of this "something" that is born of silence. If only you practice this, untold light will dawn on you in consequence. After a while a certain sweetness is born in the heart of this exercise and the body is drawn almost by force to remain in silence."  (Merton, Contemplative Prayer, 30). In mid-March as schools and congregations began to close for what initially appeared to be a two-to-four week hiatus, a business leader friend of mine asked the question, “Did the seminary prepare students for this?” It’s a good question - Who is prepared for this? How do you prepare for thi

We are offering a webinar series on generosity, and currently focused on the generosity of time - that time is a gift. I offered the following theological wondering from reading Ecclesiastes 1 and Genesis 2:3: The gift of Productive Time is found amidst the gift of Sabbath Time - The Goodness of time comes through the interplay of these times; it is here where God can meet us. The former without the latter is burnout or worse, idolatry that it is all up to me. The latter without the former is sloth and a rejection of our vocation as co-creators with the Triune God. We ended the webinar thinking about how to frame a week. I borrowed Michael Hyatt's claim of imagining a Ideal week. He defines the week in three terms (on-stage, off-stage, and back-stage).  You can find his terms here.  https://www.amyporterfield.com/transcript-how-to-design-your-ideal-week-with-michael-hyatt/  When it comes to off-stage time he says elsewhere:  "D on’t think about work;  Don’t do any work—non