ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Easter
On Wholeheartedness (by josh)
I’ve noticed a growing social media trend. It’s called a meme dump. Or at least that’s what I’ve seen one person call it. I’ll give Taylor Post credit for inventing this moment in social media history. Her “tweets I like this week” are all the rage. You can find them on her insta account, usually on mondays. A meme dump happens when a user after a period of saving multiple screenshots of interesting material, then posts all of those screenshots to a social media platform. I confess that I've participated in a few meme dumps. I give you this extended explanation because I’d like to expound on a tweet that I shared recently that I can’t stop thinking about. When I can’t stop thinking about something that means for me that it stuck. It was significant. It unlocked something in me.
here’s the tweet. for the record I don’t know who Gavin Ortlund is, but this was a killer thought.
Did you hear that? The antidote to burnout is not rest, but wholeheartedness. I should say here that I’m in favor of rest. UBC has a sabbatical policy. The sabbath is such a substantial part of the Judeo-Christian life that it comes in at number four on the commandments list and God valued it so much that it was woven into the creation on day seven. Probably the best book I've read on sabbath is Abraham Joshua Heschel’s The Sabbath. When writing about the day of rest Heschel suggests something similar as Ortlund. He writes, “Menuha which we usually render ‘rest’ means here much more than withdrawal from labor and excretion, more than freedom from toil, strain or activity of any kind. Menuha is not a negative concept but something real and intrinsically positive. This must have been the view of ancient rabbis if they believed that it took a special act of creation to bring it into being, that the universe would be incomplete without it. ‘What was created on the seventh day? Tranquility, serenity, peace and repose.’”
It seems counterintuitive but good rest takes a bit of work. Not the kind of work that takes something from you, but the kind of work that gives you life. A few years ago I begrudgingly agreed to go to a seminar on time management. I went to appease a friend who needed to bring a guest for his job. The presenter said something that was a teaching moment for me, much like the tweet above was. She said, “everyone complains that they don’t have enough time. That’s not true, we all have the same amount of time each day. What we lack is spending time getting life.” She then went on to suggest that we be strategic in our scheduling. That we intentionally build in pockets of time each day doing something that gives us life to counteract the effect of doing that which takes our life. This strategy has produced much fruit in my life.
My message is a bit risky. By that I mean we live in a society that worships hard work and pays little attention to the casualties that, that hard work sometimes creates. So in suggesting that your rest needs a bit of work to be meaningful, I run the risk of wearing you down further if not applied correctly. So I offer you some tools. Each day ask yourself these questions?
How could I be surprised today?
What is one thing that I’m looking forward to today?
What do I have to be thankful for? (pick something specific, I love my house. I think it’s beautiful. Sometimes I walk to the sidewalk and stare at it as a form of gratitude prayer).
What is something I love about the person that I’m in relationship with (could be a spouse, child, friend, or co-worker).
What are my dreams? Is working on those possible today?
How can I make sure i intersect beauty today? (burn a candle of a smell you love, listen to gregorian chant at work, schedule a lunch with a friend that it’s effortless to be with).
So what will make you experience wholeheartedness? What will help you tap into the perichoretic life of the Triune God which you’ve been created to participate in?
Meet the UBCer(s)
Shanks
Sunday Worship Is …
Outside! The weather looks good.
(imagine that Andy Dwyer excited gif right here)
UBC Kids Sunday School
We will kick off UBC Kids Sunday School the last weekend in May - May 30th! We have some policy changes that I will be ending out in a parent email but I am very excited to have our kids back in UBC Classrooms for formation time! Sunday School will take place during the worship hour. If you have any questions please send me an email at taylor@ubcwaco.org.
Also - I am still looking for a a number of new UBC Kids Volunteers! If you are vaccinated and available to help out with our kids once a month on Sunday mornings please let me know by emailing me at taylor@ubcwaco.org!
Gathering Survey
In case you missed the email yesterday, wanted to plug our gathering survey one more time. Thanks team you are the best!
Parishioner of the Week
Jess Smith for landing a job as graduate writing coordinator with Baylor in the EdD LOC. So excited to have yet another person smarter than me worshiping at UBC. Congrats Jess.
Leadership Team
If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members.
Chair: Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu
Luci Hoppe: lhoppe@gmail.com
Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com
Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com
Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com
Jose Zuniga: jzgrphix2002@yahoo.com
Taylor Torregrossa: Taylordtorregrossa@gmail.com
Student Position: Davis Misloski
Student Position: Maddy O’Shaughnessy
UBC Finance Team
Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.
Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com
Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com
Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com
George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com
UBC HR Team
If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.
Erin Albin: erin.albin1@gmail.com
Sam Goff: samuelgoff92@gmail.com
Craig Nash: Craig_Nash@baylor.edu
Kristen Howerton: khowerton94@gmail.com
Patrick Broaddus: patrickjbroaddus@gmail.com