Concerning Tools
On the north side of the rectory, there is a retaining wall which is built along the property line. There is not a lot of “property” between the north side of the house and the wall — only about about three feet wide and maybe thirty feet long. In varying places, the retaining wall is nearly four feet high. Every autumn, this trench becomes the gathering place for all of the leaves from our neighbor’s trees. Usually, we are able to employ our high powered leaf blower to clear the space easily. This year, though, we’ve had four snowfalls within two weeks, and unseasonably frigid weather. So, with the city’s leaf collection deadline bearing down on me, and yesterday’s warmer temperatures, I trudged around the house to survey the situation.
I was greeted with about three inches’ worth of leaves and snow all intermingled in an icy, semi-frozen mass. The leaf blower would have been an exercise in futility, so I began the excavation with the only tools I had at my disposal, a snow shovel and a garden rake. Neither tool was very efficient, and each tool, at varying times in the process was at least somewhat useful. Instead of ten minutes to clear the alley, I worked for about an hour. I didn’t mind too much, though, because at least I could see progress, and in time, the work was finished.
While I was shraking (shoveling/raking) my way through the task, I kept thinking about parish ministry these days. We keep looking for just the right tool to address a particular situation. We hope we can find a magic strategy which will fill our pews, staff our ministries, balance our budgets, infuse our worship with contagious energy, and insure people’s long term loyalty to the community. We are aware of the complexities of ministering in a culture where options are many, schedules are packed, and energies are scattered. We know a magic strategy doesn’t exist, but we keep looking anyway. We may, in fact, spend more time looking for the right tool than it would take to get the job done with the imperfect tools we already have at our disposal.
The longer I’m in parish ministry, the more I realize the work is never quite done, is rarely completed with anything remotely resembling efficiency, and is often a time-consuming task yielding little conventional “success” to celebrate. But I learned yesterday, there can be inherent joy in simply doing mundane tasks with care and intention. There can be progress, even if it’s slower than we’d like. And, having a couple of imperfect tools is better than having no tools at all.
Today, I am grateful for snow shovel makers and leaf rake manufacturers. I am grateful for the physical ability to use said shovels and rakes. I am grateful for a relatively warm day in which to do the work which needed to be done. I am grateful for a day off so I could do the job.
As I think about all the things which need to be accomplished at church between now and the end of the year, I pray God will give me the ingenuity to use the tools I have at my disposal. There’s lots of shoveling and raking ahead. Ministry isn’t particularly glamorous, and I’m grateful for yesterday’s reminder to find joy in the moment at hand…because the joy is there, waiting to be found.
