The Fish Net
Boston Presbyterian Church
Summer 2012
Dear Friends,
	Earlier this month I spent a day in Toronto on a course for ministers and other church leaders.  The focus was on styles of leadership and it involved a great deal of self-analysis; it made for a very interesting and thought-provoking day.  There was however one slightly jarring episode.
	One of the tests involved asking us participants about our greatest interests in ministry.  There were seven categories in all including such as worship, evangelism and organization.  We were told to go and join the other members of our interest group, and, as there were 220 participants, most of the groups were fairly large.  There was however one glaring exception; the group that chose a passionate spirituality as their number one interest.  Only four of 220 church leaders from eleven different denominations rated a passionate spirituality as their number one concern or interest.  I found this both thought-provoking and troubling.
	It may well be that for most clergy spirituality doesn’t rate high because there are so many other “practical” things that have to be done; sermons to write, people to visit, meetings to go to and so forth.  Who has the time or even the energy for the “spiritual” such as prayer, scripture reading, meditation and the like?  The great temptation is to ignore these things or to only pay them lip service but nothing could be further from the truth.  
	I remember well a sermon preached at presbytery more than twenty-five years ago.  Geographically the presbytery was a large one and as the meeting started at 10:00 a.m. that meant that many of us were on the road hours earlier.  While we squirmed, the preacher gently asked how many of us, in our rush to get to presbytery, had really made time for God that morning.  “If you are too busy for God,” he said, “then you are just too busy period.”  “The spiritual activities may not seem to be important,” he added, “but they are; they are because they set the tone not only for the day but life itself.”  He was right and what goes for church leaders goes for all of us.  
	In the routine and busyness of life it is so tempting not to “take time to be holy,” believing there are more important things to do.  In the words of a TV commercial though, “it is time well spent.”  Indeed, though we may not realize it, our spiritual activities have a tremendous impact on the rest of our lives.  As the pace slows down somewhat in summer, perhaps we should strive to develop a more passionate spirituality.
		Wishing you a most blessed summer!
			Shawn