To Do

Do you have a to do list?  Probably.  I think most people have one.  Or if they don't, one of their 'to dos' is to write a to do list. 

To do lists can be really helpful.  They can keep people organized and help prioritize.  And it can be immensely satisfying to cross off a task from a to do list.  One of the pieces of advice from author Gretchen Rubin from The Happiness Project is to 'tackle a nagging task.'  Essentially this means do something that has been on your list for a long time but you haven't done yet.  Like for me, it was hauling the boxes of Christmas decorations back down to the basement.  Thank goodness my mother showed up for my ordination, so I had no excuse not to get them out of the guest room.  It took less than five minutes to get them where they needed to be.  And it took me three months to 'find' time for those five minutes.  I was so happy when they were finally put away.

But, I digress.  Back to the infamous to do list.  I have a bit of one tonight.  I was driving home ticking off the things which must get done.  1.) walk dog, 2.) write blog, 3.) email church secretary, 4.) edit and email letter, 4.) email committee, 5.) watch video tagged on my Facebook, 6.) write note for person coming to clean my apartment tomorrow, 7.) write newsletter article.  All of this I have decided I want to get done before dinner.  Actually, I literally thought to myself, dinner will be my reward for getting these things done.  That cannot be good.

And I don't even want to talk about my to do list at work.  Really, I am not going to talk about it.  It is too stressful to even think about.

So, rather than talk about my work to do list, I want to reflect for a minute on to do lists and their nasty relative, business.

I read somewhere people consider it a badge of honor to be busy.  In fact, I also read in this same wherever it was place, a woman feels if she does not respond to "How are you doing?" from a colleague with "I'm really stressed" or "I'm really busy" then she will not be taken seriously.  Somehow we have become convinced the only way to live is with a long to do list and in a state of perpetual stress.  And we wonder why the world is going to hell in a hulu-hoop.

I have been reading the Rules of Benedict, which focus on prayer and community life.  They are to be the priorities.  And they are to be done with God as their focus.  Prayer and community life.  Not to do lists.  And, really, prayer and community life is what it all boils down to anyway.  We just fill it up with lots of other stuff to look important. 

I want to approach the world with prayer and community life, both done to the glory of God, as my new to do list.  Everything I do, at least the things which truly matter, come down to both.  Spending my time in prayer and being a good member of my community.  Much of what I do can easily tie into this, especially in my professional life, but how often do I do it with the glory of God in mind?  Probably not as much as I would hope or like to admit.  And this week while I focus on the second commandment of not making for myself a false idol, I can't help but think my to do list has become an idol.  I just as easily bow down before my to do list as I do for God.  And usually God comes second.

Not anymore. 

I will continue to do the things which bring glory to God through my prayer and devotion to my community.  Yes, I will still email the church secretary and send in a letter of intent for a grant.  But I will remind myself the reason I am doing so is to give God glory while aiding my community.  And dinner will not just be a reward.  Dinner will be a time of prayer and thanksgiving for my health.

The Golden Calf of the to do list is pretty powerful and not easy to walk away from.  But I will try, and with God's help, I will do my best.