What are you in the mood to do today? Writing a sermon? Sitting in a meeting? Or heading out to enjoy some summer sunshine. Finally, after a gray spring and temperatures well below normal, we’ve got summer in Portland.
Ministry, of course, is not simply about doing what you’re in the mood for. It pays to show up on Sunday with a sermon, even if you haven’t been in the mood. Council meetings also happen, and we need to be there. Sometimes we are in the mood for sermon writing and even meetings, but on one level it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to show up. A certain discipline is necessary in any working life.
And yet, we all experience rhythms of energy. Some weeks, some seasons of the year, tend to be more energetic than others. Most of us experience a surge of energy in the fall, as the program year begins. Winter is often a time of less energy. Summer may find us with energy, but not for work!
Honoring our own energy and mood pattern will get us farther than trying to force ourselves to work, or to drum up energy that isn’t there. Persistent low energy and low mood may need attending to. But everyone has a cycle. And there’s a difference between exerting some will and forcing it.
What’s your mood today? What are you going to do?