By Pastor John Hulden

I turn 61 next week. I’m old, and not necessarily wise. I tell you this because I’m going to sound like a grumpy old guy — during a pandemic no less. But blogs are not only exclusively warm fuzzies, are they?

So here goes. Continue reading at your own risk.

I want to call into question a catch phrase* I heard recently. In October, I was blessed with two glorious weeks in a little mountain cabin on a crystal clear lake in northwestern Montana. We didn’t even care when eight inches of snow fell on us out there.

“Did I do anything differently this year to deserve this vacation? Will the vacation be taken away from me if I don’t deserve it?”

When I mentioned to someone I was getting away, this very well intentioned someone said, “Have a well-deserved vacation.” (Truthfully, I do not remember who the “someone” was; really!) (If you were that someone, no worries, no big deal, I really don’t remember it was you.)

For some reason, a few hours later, maybe even the next day, “well-deserved vacation” kept ringing in my ears. Is it a well-deserved vacation? Did I do anything differently this year to deserve this vacation? Will the vacation be taken away from me if I don’t deserve it?

I realized a couple of things. If I stink at my job, I still get a vacation. If I am amazing at my job, I still get the same amount of vacation.

 

OUR SYNOD’S PERSONNEL policy grants me vacation. So, in fact, I “take” vacation. Don’t you? I “take” vacation whether I deserve it or not. I take vacation because a bunch of saints-advocates for pastors over the years insisted that pastors should have vacation. It’s written into guidelines. It has become standard practice. As a part of my synod work, now I advocate with church councils and call committees that. when they call a pastor or a deacon, they get vacation. There is very rarely any pushback.

Then there is this: If I think my vacation is well-deserved, where does that leave workers who don’t get a vacation? Workers who toil harder than me for an hourly wage? Folks trying to make it in the gig economy? Shouldn’t these workers get a “well deserved” vacation, too?

“Remember those who don’t get a vacation.”

This blog is not intended to make you feel guilty about “taking” your vacation. If you are allowed a vacation: Take it! Yes, and … remember those who don’t get a vacation. Elect leaders that support a living wage (with vacations and family leave). Encourage business owners to pay a living wage, then buy their products and services.

This catch phase conversation that went through my head brought me to another thought: the command to remember the Sabbath. We all need Sabbath. Heck, God needed a Sabbath. For our health and well-being, it is good to take a little Sabbath each day; a weekly Sabbath, too.

 

MY TIME AWAY TO Montana every year is my annual Sabbath. I am so privileged to have a job where I can take Sabbath — and get paid for it.

Maybe this rambling points us to a reminder to an Old Testament truth. When God introduced the Sabbath, it was RADICAL. Time off? Everyone should rest? Even slaves?

“I advocate with church councils and call committees that their rostered leader get sufficient vacation.”

My vacation was a gift, well-deserved or not. A gift that reminds me to work hard so others might have the same opportunity to enjoy a Sabbath of their own.

 

* In hopes of limiting how many grumpy blogs I write, let me get this out of my way now. Here are some more catch phrases that don’t make me happy. (My poor family has heard me gripe about these for years.)

  • “thinking out of the box”
  • “comfort zone”
  • “I just want to thank ____ ”; (try saying “Thank you ____”)

One more, and I might get (more) in trouble for this one. When an organization or a movement works tirelessly to make the world a better place — people pour hours and hours into this work — and then their spokesperson says this:

  • If it helps one person, it is worth it. (I scream, No! The positive change you are working for needs to impact lots of people, not just one person. Let me introduce you to some really good organizers that work with me!)

Ok, I’ll stop now. If I made your day harder, please forgive this grumpy old guy.