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The best parts of summer are getting to be outside a lot and having so much fresh, local, seasonal produce available. I always start off the summer vowing to move more, and eat more healthfully. The health app on my phone, which keeps track of how much in walk and how many stairs I climb, helps me to gauge at least part of my progress.
In the last few weeks, I’ve been out on my kayak a lot, exploring the high waters of the Norton Reservoir and the Taunton River. In one day alone I paddled from Raynham to Somerset, more than 20 miles. At the end of the morning, I was tired and a little sore, but also rejuvenated.
I was disappointed later that evening to realize the health app reflected that I’d been sitting for hours. As far as my smart phone was concerned I may as well have been watching tv and eating pizza instead of paddling and sweating! In order to not break my streak of walking 10,000+ steps per day, before I went to bed I had to walk in place in my living room as it poured outside. It felt like the system was working against me.
While I foolishly marched nowhere, I thought about how often we feel beholden to metrics that are no measure of the actual work we do and the real accomplishments we make. Like in our congregation, we can get attached to numbers like membership and loose plate collections, even though they may not be a reflection of the commitment levels of the people present and the effectiveness of the work we do with each other and in the world.
Sometimes we need to rethink not just how we do things, but how we think about the things we do.
Yesterday I tried something new. I paddled the 4.24 mile perimeter of the reservoir with my phone hanging from my shirt collar. Amazingly, it read my 4840 strokes as steps so that I easily surpassed the 10,00 step goal for the day. The streak continues. I feel more motivated to keep moving as long as I am able.
As we begin this new congregational year with ever-evolving leadership and opportunities, I’m thrilled that you all are so willing to rethink the things that we do. May this new year be filled with new thoughts, greater motivation and appreciation, and new ways to use the tools available to us.
In Peace,
Rev Denis
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