A Time and Season for Every Matter

In large part, lately, my time has been split between my diaconal formation program and my responsibilities at the school where I work. There's not been much time for anything else (which you can see evidenced by the noticeable lack of posts in the past few weeks). This has been something that I have struggled to accept because there are so many thing that I want to be doing... but I just can't because I don't have the time and wherewithal to accomplish it all.

Through recent conversations, what has been impressed on me is that I need to reframe the obligations in my life. Frankly, I can't do it all even though I really do feel very obliged to keep up all the responsibilities that I have given myself. I guess the first person I need to forgive is myself, right? So in trying to reframe everything, I don't know whether the simple semantic shift from obligations to opportunities is enough... but on the other hand, I think there may be value in reframing them as disciplines, too.

Reason is that disciplines are things that I can freely take up and carry for a season. And when the season is over, I may set them down to pick up something else.

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Over the past year or so, blogging has been a discipline that I have treasured. Blogging is a craft that I wish to explore. I want to hone my own skills at this craft and I also want to observe and engage the craft when others are putting their own skills to it. There are so many communities that have sprung up around this craft and I have been so grateful for the opportunity to participate in them, no matter whether we agree, disagree, or otherwise (because those are the things that make community).

Nonetheless, blogging is also a discipline that I feel I must set down for the season that I am entering. My formation is possibly the largest discipline that I have yet taken up in my life and so that will be my focus for the season to come.

I hope and pray that I may learn to manage my time so that I may be able to pick up blogging again and keep that discipline along with my formation. Those among you, dear readers, who have read most of my posts will know that, when I entered formation, I had hoped that my formation reflections would easily feed into my blog posts. Unfortunately, that has not been the case... but I guy can still hope, right?

At any rate, this is indeed my farewell to the season of my own blogging, as well as a farewell the communities I have been a part of that have sprung up around blogging. This is also my farewell to you, my dear readers, just for a season, until I may take up this craft again. Please pray for me, as I pray for you. And thank you, everyone, for walking with me on this way for a time.