a recent USA Today piece on the actress Tina Fey<\/a>, whose comedic work I generally enjoy.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s an excerpt from the article:<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cHow Fey balances what now amounts to two jobs, plus marriage and motherhood, and writing an upcoming humor non-fiction book, is a question none of her co-stars or friends can answer. Friend and fellow SNL-er Amy Poehler attributes it to \u201ccloning and time travel.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n30 Rock writer Robert Carlock says, \u201cIt\u2019s kind of unprecedented what she\u2019s trying to pull off. I guess she doesn\u2019t sleep? She has those early calls and works all day. She runs out and gets her kid from school and runs back for the next shot. She does do it all.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\nJack McBrayer, who plays perky Kenneth the page, calls her a workhorse. \u201cYesterday, she had to do several scenes, do a taped episode of Letterman and go back to writing the next episode. She doesn\u2019t stop.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\nThose who read this blog will know my stance on gender roles and the balance of work and motherhood.\u00a0 That is not the issue I\u2019m interested in after reading this particular piece.\u00a0 Rather, I\u2019m concerned with Fey\u2019s drive to produce work.\u00a0 What, exactly, prompts a person to work full-time for Saturday Night Live<\/em>, full-time for 30 Rock<\/em>, and then take up the duties of wife and mother?\u00a0 All this between tapings of Letterman.\u00a0 (Though I must say, I\u2019ve always found him remarkably accommodating to my schedule.)<\/p>\nMany of us know people like Tina Fey.\u00a0 Actually, many of us Americans are naturally oriented to Fey\u2019s frenetic pace.\u00a0 Living in a market-driven world consumed with the bottom line, we have adopted habits that, quite simply, are not healthy.\u00a0 I\u2019m not referring to work that we need <\/em>to do.\u00a0 There are seasons of life that can be very demanding, and there\u2019s no other solution but to work, and to work hard.<\/p>\nBut many of us also desire and embrace a way of life that is detrimental to our physical, psychological and spiritual health.\u00a0 And\u2013here is the $64,000 question\u2013for what?\u00a0 For what, exactly?\u00a0 Why are we so driven?\u00a0 What does it all accomplish?\u00a0 Or, to ask a better question, what does our next little bit of accomplishment cause us to sacrifice in other areas?<\/p>\n
I am both saddened and challenged by the Fey article.\u00a0 I can see a similar ambitiousness in my own heart, and I must admit that I am repulsed by it.\u00a0 A good helping of ambition is no bad thing, of course, and many of us could use more of it.\u00a0 When carried by the right motives, God often blesses it, as the Bible and church history make clear (see numerous texts from Proverbs like 6:6 and Matthew 25:14-30 and the examples of men like Whitefield and Wesley).\u00a0 Yet our ambitiousness can often blend with naked selfishness and create a pattern of life that is about the advancement of the kingdom of God, yes, but is also about the advancement of the kingdom of self.\u00a0 I\u2019ve found this particularly true in the academic realm.\u00a0 In the same way that consumer capitalism can reward greed, the academic world can reward selfishness.\u00a0 One is measured in large part by one\u2019s publishing, and so if one works hard to publish, one may well be lavishly rewarded.\u00a0 But much of this endeavor can be fueled as much by selfishness and pure ambition as by gospel concerns.<\/p>\n
I was reminded of all of this in a potent way when I sat my daughter on my lap this past weekend.\u00a0 The house was quiet, the chores were done, and I was free to enjoy some time with my daughter.\u00a0 As we sat together, Ella Rose smiled at me.\u00a0 She melted me with her first smile, but then she did it again.\u00a0 This process repeated itself for quite some time before she fell into a contented sleep.\u00a0 As she slept, I found myself quite stirred by the past few minutes.\u00a0 I was rebuked by my daughter\u2019s smile.\u00a0 In those sweet moments, I was rebuked for my pride, my selfishness, my naked ambition, and for the harm that these sins of my heart could wreak on my little girl.<\/p>\n
In these first days of her life, my wife and I are everything to Ella.\u00a0 We are her world.\u00a0 Yet it is quite possible for me in coming days to emulate the pattern of many driven people, Christian or otherwise, and to fade out of her life, swept away by a schedule of my choosing that involves considerable time away from home.\u00a0 One wants to scrupulously avoid sweeping generalization, and thus to leave a significant place for a busy life lived to the glory of God, but one also wants to be aware of a temptation common to man.\u00a0 It is easy to drift away from our families, friends, and churches, and to lose ourselves in a world made by ambition and selfish bent.\u00a0 I can see this in myself, I can see it in others, and I am determined to fight it.<\/p>\n
I know that I will lead a busy life even if I am a balanced person.\u00a0 Many\u2013most\u2013of us will.\u00a0 But this does not excuse us from the need to love our families and to give them great chunks of our time, to regularly sacrifice for them.\u00a0 If we do not do so, perhaps the Lord will rebuke us.\u00a0 It may not be through a resounding sermon or a sharp argument, though.\u00a0 It may be through a baby\u2019s sweet smile, a laugh that echoes in our ears, a moment that goes as swiftly as it comes.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Life gets busy.\u00a0 This is a fundamental reality for many of us.\u00a0 Indeed, many of us make our lives too busy.\u00a0 I was reminded of this when I read a recent USA Today piece on the actress Tina Fey, whose comedic work I generally enjoy. Here\u2019s an excerpt from the article: \u201cHow Fey balances what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>Life gets busy.\u00a0 This is a fundamental reality for many of us.\u00a0 Indeed, many of us make our lives too busy.\u00a0 I was reminded of this when I read a recent USA Today piece on the actress Tina Fey<\/a>, whose comedic work I generally enjoy.<\/p>\n