Ministry and Margins

I have had the kind of week in which everything I do is scheduled. Meetings during the day. Meetings in the evening. And, last night, I began teaching at Milligan College again (Christ and Culture for the Lifelong Learning program). The class runs from 6pm-10pm for five Thursday nights in a row. Last night's cohort seemed like a good group of students. They weren't whiny!

I get a lot done during weeks like this. The only problem is that I don't have any margins in my schedule to allow me to respond to situations as fully as I would like. That's a problem because I feel like the best ministry happens in the parts of my schedule where meetings aren't planned. People come to meetings with agendas. I come to meetings with agendas. I approach my scheduled tasks with an understanding of what I need to accomplish.

The best ministry happens when I have no idea what God might do in this moment, when the person I'm talking to has finally questioned his or her agenda, when the need of a person and the light of God collide and the prism of the crisis makes the colors of God radiate before us.

I try to keep margins in my schedule for just such reasons. At the end of this week I will feel like I've gotten a lot done, but I'll be less aware of what God has accomplished.

I would like to think more about this but ... the sermon, you know ... like me, it's waiting to be formed.