in my little corner of the world, 2012 was a big year. we grew, achieved, took risks, succeeded. before i start making resolutions again, i want to pause in this moment to celebrate a few of my close friends. i’ve asked them to share 3 things they learned this year – some are personal, some are professional, all are inspirational. we always have something to learn from others, and sometimes you don’t have to look very far.
today we’re hearing from will – my husband. this year he earned a master’s degree at vandy and began a phD program at king’s college london in systematic theology this fall. he has not faced this endeavor with an ounce of fear or self-doubt but with a tireless work ethic. read will’s professional year in review after the jump.
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Year in Review by Will
Most of the things I have learned this year can be framed in terms of reading and writing but are applicable to other parts of life requiring attention.
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1. The less you do it, the worse it gets. You get better at something by working at it. Abbot John Chapman gave this advice about prayer: “First, ‘Pray as you can, and don’t try to pray as you can’t!’ and secondly, ‘The less you pray, the worse it goes.’” (John Chapman, Spiritual Letters p. 25.) Do the work the way you can; do it often. The advice works for any endeavor we are willing to commit ourselves to pursuing. For me this advice means that I write everyday even when I don’t have anything profound or interesting to write about. The key is not to wait until you feel ready, which is an excuse, but to start where you are.
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2. Take things seriously that are worth being taken seriously. Hobbies fill up our hours with diversions, home-brewing or crime fiction or whatever, preventing us from either taking things seriously or asking serious questions. Instead, we take those things seriously as matters of vital importance when they are precisely those things we should handle with levity. Thoreau on this problem in his day: “Think… of the ladies of the land weaving toilet cushions against the last day, not to betray too green an interest in their fates! As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” (Henry David Thoreau, Walden from the section ‘Economy’.) Life, death, piety, freedom, time and eternity make up human lives. I am always trying to work and think with these stakes in mind.
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3. Be difficult. Difficulty and complexity do not call for dismissal but for care and attention. In writing this does not mean being obscure but being honest. In my studies this has meant avoiding being clever as a kind of short-cut around careful research and reading. In other places it would show up as interest in getting the facts straight in order to report them honestly. Harder than dealing with the difficulty of a situation is grappling with a difficult person, especially our own self. Pay careful attention to yourself because we are exceedingly difficult in our good and bad parts.
