Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

    How about:
    
    30%		Sleeping
    25%		Earning a living
    20%		Home and family work
    15%		Serving the Community (Volunteering)
    10%		Learning and Playing
    
    
    Ruth
    

You raise an interesting point, Ruth.  Where we dedicate our time,
not unlike where we put our money, is an indicator of where we have
placed our priorities.

Richard Bolles, ex-Episcopal priest and author of "What Color Is Your
Parachute," reduces life to 3 basic functions: learning, working and
playing.  Bolles advocates devoting a third of one's time to each function
over a period of a year, if at all possible -- and he claims it is.  For
further exploration I recommend Bolles' book, "The Three Boxes of Life."

Something I have found is that unless time is deliberately allocated for
things like worship, relationships, and even sex, they just don't happen,
and all too often, they die of neglect.  Life is just not as wonderfully
spontaneous as it has been portrayed in the movies.

Peace,
Richard

    RE: .2
    
    That sure is the truth!
    
    Marc H.

    Richard,

    I did read _The_Three_Boxes_of_Life several years ago...might have been
    the seed that is now sprouting into major discontent.

    I think I need a "how-to" book rather than a "why not" book though.

    We've set up such a silly society; our priorities are so insane.  Our
    distant ancestors would be incredulous if we told them that someday
    people would voluntarily sit and stare at glowing screens while tapping
    on little tablets *instead* of playing with our children, making
    love...

    In the Gospel of Thomas the disciples are asking Jesus about how to
    live and he says:

    	"Do not lie, and do not do what you dislike."

    I wonder what kind of world we could shape with that as a mantra.  With
    our treasure and our heart aligned, rightly dividing The Word...

    Ruth

 Gospel of Thomas?

    .5 Jim,
    
    	It's non-canonical.
    
    Peace,
    Richard
    

Nuts and bolts stuff, eh, Ruth?  Well, I'm afraid what might fit me may not
fit so well on you.  For one thing, you're contours are much better
than mine! ;-}

The first thing I'd consider is simplifying my life.  I'd ask myself how
I might live, and still have some savings, and still be able to give away
money, on less income.  The other option, of course, is to look for a way
of increasing your income while decreasing the hours you spend earning it.
A neat trick!  But not impossible.

You could consider buying clothing at a consignment or second-hand store
instead of Joslins or Foleys (And, I don't know whether you do or not).  You
might consider using public transportation instead of driving (though that's
not such a great idea to get around in this town).  I found when I was riding
the bus in Phoenix, it was a great opportunity for reading and study.

You might block months out on your calendar; say, setting June and July
aside for play.  Where would you want to go?  What would you want to do?
How much do you think it would cost?  Would you know by March if you
could pull it off?  And do you have something in the works come August 1st?

Peace,
Richard

 Hey...I used to ride the bus in Phoenix!  Great for reading/studying (and
 cooler than my car which wasn't air conditioned)





Jim

    
    
    		Oh Lord...time.  With all the layoffs I've been averaging
    close to 500 miles a week.  By the time I get home I feel like I am on
    some heavy drugs.  This week for an example I have over 1000 miles.
    I used to think I worked to live but lately I've been working hard just
    to keep up let alone live.  I think its time to rethink my current
    occupation.  One very good thing about all this travel it allows me to
    do some heavy thinking about God and all that is offered.  
    
    
    Dave

    .9  Oh, so that's why we've not heard very much from you in recent
    months, Dave.  You've been missed.
    
    An idea to utilize your driving time is to play instructional tapes.
    Those long Texas stretches of miles and miles of nothing but miles
    and miles are indeed good times to turn your thoughts to prayer and
    meditation.
    
    Oh, and while you're on the road, you might as well sing "Happy Birthday."
    You know you're going to have to sooner or later, so you might as well
    get it out of the way.
    
    It's called 'time management.'
    
    Shalom,
    Richard
    
    
    
    ;-}
    

| Gospel of Thomas?


	Jim, you might appreciate this. Your note was the first one I saw when
I logged in, and as it came on the screen instead of seeing the Gospel of
Thomas, I saw Gorman Thomas. Remember him? The centerfielder for Milwaukee in
the early 80's? Mr. Walk/Strikeout/Homerun Thomas?



Glen

 :-)

Time - we speak of it in economic terms.  We spend it.  We squander it.
We invest it.  We talk about saving it, though in truth, time can never
be stored up and used later.

We used to speak of "quality time."  But I think we've found quality time
is more difficult to achieve than we thought in the absence of quantity time.

Time is money, it's said.  But with time, none of us knows how much we have
to begin with.

Shalom,
Richard