Saturday, December 29, 2012

Resolutions - Tasks or Relationships?

Have you begun thinking about New Year Resolutions?


I used to resolve to remember better my family's birthdays, but with my aunt, my grandmother, my father-in-law and my step-father all having birthdays in the first three weeks of the year, I always failed miserably. After all, I'm one of the the people who have trouble remembering to take down the Christmas tree even as its needles lay a fir carpet in our living room. How was I going to remember to do something in January when I was still thinking it was December? I was sunk before I ever began!

So, these days, I don't think too much about making resolutions; after all, most resolutions get broken before January ends - why invite disappointment?

But I admit, I am intrigued by a thesis made by Charles Duhigg in his book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Duhigg's book is the first of several on my reading list for JTerm classes that I'll travel to Luther Seminary for next month. He argues that habits consist of a loop that begin with a cue, a routine and a reward. He suggests that habits can be created by creating new cues or rewards, and changed by inserting different routines into the loop. Eventually, when a habit is formed, the cue triggers a routine and delivers a reward semi-automatically.

What intrigues me though is how his presentation parallels a way of thinking about discipleship that is promoted by Mike Breen of 3DM. Breen acknowledges borrowing this form from the business world thirty years ago, but it is durable. Using the shape of a square,Breen suggests that discipleship involves 4 movements that begin with teaching people in safe spaces where they can watch how things are done (1), and then, they can help (2). Eventually, being coached, they take a leadership role (3), and finally, fully equipped, they lead (4).

Correlating the square and the habit loop helps me understand that short-term bursts of activity are likely less to create or change habits than sustained relationships.  I'll have to think about what that means in practice, but maybe it changes the ways I resolve to live differently in 2013.

What about you?

Friday, December 28, 2012

Conspiracy in the Preacher's Corner

Conspiring to hold Jesus at the center of all of our Christmas preparation and expectation, St. Mark's joined neighborhood churches in participating in the Advent Conspiracy [AC] for Advent. Four churches, four preachers, four worship styles but united as one Body of Christ around the table and the Word - pretty extraordinary.

On Sundays at St. Mark's, we returned to the prophets' words and heard the promise of a Messiah.  I preached the first and last Sundays of Advent.

December 2, 2012
1st Sunday in Advent (Year C)
Jeremiah 33:14-16   
Psalm 25:1-10
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 21:25-36
 
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December 23, 2012
4th Sunday in Advent (Year C)
Micah 5:2-5a
Psalm 80:1-7
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

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