I’m reflecting here on three things.

1. This week I could not write. I have ongoing health problems, and had tooth abcesses the week before while also dealing with litigation with the ex-wife and boys getting ready for exams, plus doing extended hours on call. However, after about two or three down days I start thinking of research projects. While walking,staring at cups of coffee, checking the blogs, commenting, posting (trust me, academic writing takes more effort)… and ended up with two projects that can be done and will be worthwhile.  But I needed “down time” — with nothing scheduled — for hours — to get there.
2. Today the passage at Church was the parable of the talents. The sermon was around the great generosity of the resources given and our duty to use them, and not to be lazy.
3. Then I review Elspeth’s comments about people using home as a way station. She made a comment that people were concerned because she had been home for two days (as her car was in the driveway). I will ignore the nosy-ness (the cure for which, in NZ, is called a garage door) and I want to concentrate on the sense that activity == godliness.

There is a sense that we fulfil the commends to use our talents by being continually active. We need our day scheduled. We have to be doing something all the time. To not do that is to be seen as Lazy.

Now, I consider this an error. I know that I need down times. It takes me days to work through a project. I cannot do this fast. And during that time, it looks like I am doing nothing. In my life, this is followed by a burst of activity where I write down the proposal –moving what will be a pile of scribbled cryptic codes or nothing (as it often in my head) onto something that can be subjected to peer review. And once the first draft of that is done, it will take some time to polish… but then it appears that I am doing work.

With the boys, I limit their outside activities: they know I will support them in one sport and one artistic endeavour. This means they spend time doing very little. But during that time I get unanswerable questions, such as “Why are so many modern books about taming dragons?”.

I’m not here to micromanage their time. I’m here to give them guidance, and to answer their questions.

We spend a lot of time at home doing very little. I don’t do much ministry in my church. I don’t date. I don’t do home group. I work and I raise the kids… and have some hobbies… this is a hobby for me.

I think that a large part of the training in adolescence is learning to be comfortable with yourself, and to manage yourself. I want the boys to be able to structure their days and take responsibility for that.  Here, a bit of boredom helps.

Boredom and periods of rest are not Laziness. Laziness is not doing your duty, not working on your gifts. The bigger problem, however, in our time is being over busy, and not paying attention to the relationships we have with each other.