Measurements

I just completed a sermon for Sunday in which I made a comparison between how we measure children’s growth to ensure they are developing normally, are healthy and on track to be their best, with how we measure our own growth as disciples. This is my 194^th blog and, in much the same way, I am beginning to evaluate, to measure, the degree to which I have accomplished what I set out to do.

  I started this during the pandemic, with the goal to discipline myself to write regularly but also in hopes of offering something uplifting or at least of some interest. Discipline is not my forte.  I resist being tied to a routine.  Yet, with few exceptions, I have posted a blog weekly since May 2020.  Now, as I am approaching my 200^th post and my fourth anniversary, I seek to measure whether I have been faithful to the discipline, whether it has been of value to anyone, whether it is worth continuing. 

This is a reflection of where my life is now as I approach retirement from my present ministry in the fall and, in broader terms, as I am aging.  Was I faithful to the ministry, what value has it been, in what ways will I find other means to serve?  Have I been faithful to myself in my life, that is, pursued those things I felt most important, lived my values? What have I left undone that I might yet do? How do I use the time and energy I have left?

My self-assessments require a certain honesty about my limitations, my imperfections, and a willingness also to affirm myself for what I recognize have been accomplishments.  There are benefits to this, of course, well described in an April 2004 article in Psychology Today by Nando Pelusi, PhD:

“Self-appraisal is a necessary activity for navigating a course
through life. A conscious assessment of our goals, our behavior, our
relationships, our performance in all domains ultimately enables
self-improvement. It allows us to expand our options in life.

It does more. It’s another way of leading the examined life.
You deepen the experience of the life you have.

Coming clean with your errors and learning to forgive yourself for
them can become a lifelong habit. Through it, your relationship with
yourself gets better and better.”

She welcomes us to “self-appraisal” and notes that the things most amenable to change are:

• How you spend your time and with whom,

• The quality of the time you spend with others

• Other choices you can make about your self, such as how you
eat and how you drink

• Your performance in general and your performance towards
your goals.

May we be bearers of hope, the “wait staff” of Hope’s Café for each other and all those we encounter.  Shalom, Kate

Hope’s Café Bonus:  My advice (to myself as well as any others who might take the challenge of “measurement” and self appraisal) is to give oneself a good bit of grace in the process. 😊