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Tag Archives: church

How to Know That Your Work Matters. Really.

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by dmswriter in Updates

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church, creating, doing work that matters, Dr. Peter Steinke, outreach, writing

My recent post “You Are Not Your Job. Really” talked about inspirational “roadblocks” that get us thinking about the meaning of our work. Many people identify so strongly with their job, letting it become an indicator of their worth as a person, that they work long hours and neglect their personal lives in an effort to become “successful.”

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about this every once in a while. When time stretches between jobs, I worry that I’m in the wrong profession, making the immediate absence of a job a barometer of my success. Writing assignments = success in this crazy, pointless scenario.

A couple Saturdays ago, I attended a seminar by Dr. Peter Steinke on “Leadership in Anxious Times.” It centered around the church’s role in our changing lives, but much of what Steinke discussed fit easily into everyday life. Steinke regularly counsels churches in crisis – those facing shrinking membership, dealing with internal problems, or uncertain of their significance in our changing culture.

How can you make your work matter?Don’t we all struggle with that every now and then? Our own significance in a changing culture? And if we throw job identity into the mix, it’s even hairier.

What we’re really asking, deep down, is, “Does my work matter? Do I matter?”

Interestingly, Steinke’s answer to these churches (and to us) is the same – it’s not about you.

He turns the focus of each church outward, telling them to interview local leaders – firemen, teachers, hospital administrators – to discover unmet needs in the community. The church can then step in to meet some of those needs. After all, Steinke pointed out, the early church was created and driven by those who served – tending the sick, the poor, the dying – when no one else could or would step in.

siberian irisesI’d guess you feel best when you know your work has helped someone else. I know I do. One of the memories I cherish is when I interviewed a seamstress who sews beautiful doll clothes. My article appeared in the local paper, and a few weeks later, this lady called to thank me. Not for the article, but for the fact that a local organization contacted her after the article ran. They wanted her to give sewing lessons to this group, many of whom suffer from arthritis. The hope was that the classes would serve as double therapy: help for hurting hands and a way for them to sew for others. A great feeling to know that I had participated in that, in some small way.

It’s the intention behind our work that gives it meaning. Not the titles we assume to make ourselves feel important. Whether we work with animals in need, teach at-risk students how to write better, or indulge our love of gardening to grow flowers to share, the result is similar – we’re reaching beyond ourselves to create something better for someone else. 

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The Royal Shrub

26 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by dmswriter in Updates

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church, editing, gardening, grammar, history, humor, investiture, politics, Queen Elizabeth, shrub

When I was a kid, there was an older couple in our church who had money. For the sake of this odd but true story, I’ll call them Merle and Hattie Clanderman. They owned several businesses in town, and although they weren’t flashy about their wealth, everyone in the congregation knew the Clandermans “had money.”

govhouse.nl.ca

When you’re 10 years old, this stuff is pretty intriguing. Where did all their money come from? What did they do with all that green stuff I imagined they had stacked around in dusty piles?

They bought shrubs.

That’s the conclusion I came to one Sunday when our minister announced that there would be a shrub planting after church in honor of Merle. Now, keep in mind that Merle hadn’t died – he was sitting, right as rain, in the front pew, nodding slightly at the news. People often plant trees or shrubs to honor a deceased loved one, but I guess Merle was getting a jump on things.

Not only would the shrub be planted right after church, but there would also be a placard stuck next to it, declaring for all the world that this was, indeed, the Official Merle Clanderman Shrub, planted on a sunny Sunday in 1975 or so.

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It seemed so official, so Queenly, and as the years passed, I realized it was an investiture of sorts. A Royal Shrubbing, if you will. It made me think of that word – investiture – which really has a royal ring to it if you say it with your nose tilted up just slightly.

But what is an investiture??

It’s a ceremony or official installation of someone – it can be to a government post or office, but even the Boy Scouts get in on the act, holding investitures when a scout moves from one rank to another.

In a royal sense, an investiture installs a new monarch, and the reigning King or Queen holds investitures to honor people for specific accomplishments. According to one source, about 25 of them are held each year, most of them at Buckingham Palace in London, England.

nydailynews.com

It’s quite the affair – the Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeoman of the Guard, created by Henry VII in 1485, are on guard, and music is played. If you’re lucky enough to receive a knighthood, you’ll have to kneel on an official stool and Queen Elizabeth will use her father’s sword to dub you “knight,” after which you’re entitled to use the term “Sir” before your name. If you’re female, you use “Dame.”

I don’t recall that people in church started addressing Merle as “Sir Merle” or his wife as “Dame Hattie,” but Merle might have walked a bit taller after the big day.

Having a shrub planted in your honor will do that to you…

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