The Ideal Week and Dreaming of Time in Abundance

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: "Don’t think about work; Don’t do any work—none!; Don’t talk about work;  Don’t read about work."

I need to translate his terms for my own work and vocational desires.

I am a teacher and preacher and have plenty of engagements that seem performative, yet I am in a season of life that is seeking to organize my life by a different set of expectations, one that aligns with my vocation and it’s location. I work in a seminary and my vocation is oriented toward pastoral formation. Most of my days have public work, preparatory work, and abiding work. 

The abiding work has become the most important. The abiding work is the ABBEY, where God’s pursuit of me is mutually my pursuit of God.  Often Abbey time is what we define after everything else is scheduled. The Abbey needs to be scheduled before you schedule anything else. Abbey time allows our energy to show up when it is most needed. Abbey time is sabbath time and worship time. For me, this is Saturdays, half of Sundays, and every (okay some) morning from 5:30-630am. The weekend days are set aside to recharge my life, which includes loved ones, play, and social engagements. The latter is not abiding for everyone, but being with friends without concern for performance or productivity is life-giving for me. 

The morning abiding time is most significant. Without quiet time dwelling in silence and Scripture, the remainder of the days feel overwhelming, wordy, and restless. If I can wake up before the social energy makes itself known, I can begin the day with the One who settles the rest of the hours. Spending fifteen minutes in a chair doing centering prayer and reading a psalm or parable is enough to make the other hours manageable. But without the abiding work, everything seems vanity.

The public work is a significant part of our lives. This is when I am speaking, teaching, meeting with colleagues, students, donors, staff, and parishioners (depending on your work) and attending meetings. The public work is the APOSTLATE, where the gifts we have from God get put to use for and with others. The Apostolate schedule requires all of me to show up. The Abbey time is where my mind shuts down; the academy time is where I allow my mind to generate as much energy and activity as possible. The apostolate time is where I have to manage my mind, body, and heart at the same time. This is exhausting time, and a leader cannot afford to schedule too much apostolate time, for when we are in public we need to be fully present and everything is expected of us (as it should be).

The preparatory work is the ACADEMY time. This is where we refine thoughts, consider our contributions to the many meetings we have finished and when we plan for upcoming conversations. This is when we read and write, plan and prepare, and when we reflect back and reconsider how to show up in the world the next time. This is also when we check email (but limit this - email is not the work but points to and follows the work; as a matter of fact follow a friend's advice and don't check email until 11am). I can often confuse Abbey and Academy time, since both are largely solitary events. 

Remember this is an ideal week focused on loving God, neighbor, and self. Be gracious. It won't always go as planned.