From the Pastor
I recently came across a phrase I hadn’t heard before – “Imposter Virtues.” An imposter virtue is a virtue that enables us to feel good about doing bad. Righteousness, for example, can become an imposter virtue. Convinced of my own righteousness, of the correctness of my beliefs and behavior, I can convince myself that I am justified in excluding, or even persecuting, anyone who doesn’t believe or behave like me. I can feel good about behaving badly.
Perhaps one of the most insidious of the imposter virtues is busyness: “I’m too busy…I wish I could help but I’m so busy…I can’t possibly do that because I’m too busy.” Ministers are wonderful at being “busier than thou.” No room on that calendar; I must be doing a good job! The busier I am, the greater the affirmation that I and my work are significant and important. Being busy…it seems like a noble virtue. Noble, that is, until I use it as a way to avoid engaging with you, caring about you, being an involved spouse, parent or neighbor, or getting involved in justice and peacemaking in our world. Busyness can quickly become a wonderful excuse for not engaging in things that really matter – an imposter virtue.
Summer beckons. I would like to invite you and me to use these upcoming summer months as an opportunity to do some “busyness busting.” May this be a time when we re-visit the radical and revolutionary concept of sabbath rest. In the words of Tilden Edwards, “In our culture resting on the sabbath – or any other day! – is a revolutionary act. It is a day of revolutionary tranquility. We liberate time. Stopping anxious productivity for a special time challenges the assumptions of a culture that would reduce us to production machines. Authentic sabbath time implies freedom and invites fresh eyes and fresh breath with which to see and be in the world. We are free to realize our fuller humanity in the image of God that is beyond our productivity.”
Imagine not being too busy. To tell you the truth, I find it just a bit frightening. Being busy is easy. Finding the me – and you – that exist beneath this imposter virtue, might take some time. But, of course, finding such time is what sabbath is all about!
Gene
