I recently had a birthday, and am now 41 years old. That gives me a year before I reach 42, which — as I knew, and surprisingly others also volunteered — is “the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything.”
But the proof that I really am in my forties is that my personal goals are much more modest. Or at the very least it means that I don’t have time for self-serving and dysfunctional causes. More about that later.
As for those goals: weight-loss is a perennial, and I hope we might refinance the mortgage, but neither of these are related to this blog. And then there’s legal marriage, but hitting the right mark between civil marriage and our Christian faith — especially since we had the church wedding seven years ago and the fact that we won’t get any more rights by marrying — means it’s more of  process than a goal.
Not having a local religious home is a sore point, but again more of a process than a goal. I have some thoughts about a nonlocal home that I’ll share as the 2010-2011 year goes on.
For skills, I want to be reasonably proficient in Esperanto, say, to read magazines without halting and carry on a non-technical conversation with infrequent circumlocution or clarifying questions, before the next Landa Kongreso. I also want to learn enough Python — as a goal — to use it to solve a problem that I would normally solve in a Rube Goldberg way.
But one goal I’m particularly proud of — writing 100 letters. Pre-email, I was an avid correspondent, and I both miss writing and receiving proper letters. So that, with dusting off some sermon and knot-tying skills, are my modest goals for the next year. No ultimate questions on display, but I hope to share of some of what I develop here.
Hi
“Not having a local religious home is a sore point,”
You live in/near Washington – how about one of the UU congregations there? If liberals do not support liberal congregations “The Others” will completely take over.
Best wishes
Uh, no. I’m a Christian, and the only UUA-member church that’s Christian around here is a former pastorate. And I don’t truck with nameless “others” fear.
What inspires me to write letters most is when my best friend’s children go to summer camp. You may not know any camp-aged kids and writing to kids might not be your thing. But even those who don’t know from personal experience can imagine that it sucks to be at summer camp and not get letters when the other kids do. Thinking about that guilts me in to setting pen to paper.
Scott – Having visited DC a number of times, I understand the limits of available religious community. If I was in your boat, I would feel limited to Universalist National Memorial Church, the nearly-dead Swedenborgian church, or perhaps one of the left-wing Alliance of Baptist congregations. And obviously UNMC is not an option for you, since you are one of their former pastors .But I do wonder if you have given the liberal Baptists enough consideration?
I am 36, and also find myself with less ambitious goals. I want to find stable, full-time employment, and leave behind this mad juggle I presently have of 3 quarter-time jobs. I want to replenish my emergency savings, which have mostly been decimated by my past 13 months of under-employment. I want to support my partner through to the completion of his grad degree in social work. I want to spend more time with my 88 year-old grandmother (the last of my living grandparents). I want to take a real vacation that is not an excuse for doing chores for my extended family, and that does not have anything work related piggy-backing on it.
Yes, First Baptist and Calvary Baptist from time to time, plus the Swedenborgians. But there’s not a chance I’ll get baptized again.
And your goals are the right ones.
Regarding a church home: Would you consider one of the Presby churches affiliated with either the More Light Presbyterians or the Covenant Network of Presbyterians? Just curious…