Rector’s Ramblings – March 27, 2025
It was time. I had let it go too long again. It’s sort of like Queen Elizabeth I’s supposed statement that she “bathed once a month whether she needed it or not!” It’s not about bathing for me so much as cleaning off my desk. I try to do it once every quarter. Most years, I manage to accomplish it just before or after Easter, and this spring has been no different. This was the week. I rarely find things that were utterly forgotten, but it’s still helpful to revisit everything that has piled up over the course of several months of running from meetings to events to services.
As I think I’ve rambled before, some assert that many geniuses have messy desks. That doesn’t mean everyone with a messy desk is a genius, but we can all dream, right? Others say it’s just a neatness “bias” that isn’t that old of a concept. You don’t have to go too far back in time to find those who believed that a clean desk was a sign of laziness. The idea was that if you had time to clean your desk to within an inch of its life every day, you weren’t doing something more productive. The truth is that productivity isn’t tied to clean or messy desks as much as it is to our mindset about hard work.
I tend to let my organization go in waves. I am not as neat as some folks, but eventually, it’s too much for me. That’s true of my desk, my toolbox and the wider garage, and even my sock drawer. One day, I realize things need to return to their place, and I reset again for a while. I can handle some chaos, but too much for too long, and I need to regain control. I don’t need to be as severe as those who become minimalists about possessions and storage, but there are limits, nonetheless.
More problematic for me to manage is the clutter of a full calendar. That, too, is seasonal, which should come as no surprise. We all have seasons that are more or less active, and my busy seasons just happen to correspond to the church calendar. It’s usually manageable until it’s the church calendar AND… The and could be something personal, like getting a cold or added stress out in the world that affects me personally. Sometimes, my insides feel like my desk right before a cleaning, and getting things back on track can be challenging. It’s not as simple as shelving some books and recycling old meeting notes.
I do my best to take a day off each week, which can help reset things a bit. I’ve unfortunately fallen out of the habit of taking periodic retreat days, which are slightly more intentional opportunities for spiritual decluttering. Contemplative practices can be effective short-term pause buttons, but stringing together forty-eight hours of respite and prayer can feel much better than getting my inbox to zero.
If you’re feeling cluttered and overwhelmed by the things in your life that are just stacking up, friend, I recommend starting with taking some Sabbath time just to be. Don’t do a lot for a bit. Don’t read any news, and definitely don’t watch any cable news, which is like the junk food of the media world. Try to find God in something quiet – whatever it is that works for you to connect to the divine truth in our midst. It may be time if you can’t remember the last time you engaged in such a practice. We should all pursue such endeavors at least once a year (although, in truth, much more frequently) whether we need it or not. Don’t listen to anyone who might question your productivity or worry that you’ve lost it if the status of your desk isn’t the true determiner of your identity; the opinions of others certainly aren’t. The status of our heart and spirit, however, is a whole other story.
Tom+
