November 23, 2005Coerced by PizzaI'm feeling the social pressure to help decorate the IVP office building for Christmas. The problem is, I HATE decorating for Christmas. But now there's pizza on the table. Decorating together isn't just a task, it's a cultural endeavor, in much the same way that eating together is a cultural endeavor. The idea that we at work should eat together and decorate together emulates what will happen in my house and many other houses this weekend, in what's become part of the Thanksgiving ritual as much as asking the question "What are you thankful for this year?" So my work is asserting itself as a kind of family, which I can certainly affirm. But consequently, this new family obligation only adds to my internal sense of responsibility to participate. I've been running across the concept of "creating culture" a lot lately. Andy Crouch did a whole workshop on it, and I've seen a few authors hint at it in their writing, and it's percolating in my brain as I think about my job as an editor for a particular community of people. And I guess it boils down to the simple fact that if I want to feel at home at my work, I need to treat work like a second home, which means I GUESS I should treat my coworkers like brothers and sisters and honor my family obligations. Or, I could be the whiney family member who gets out of everything. Tough call . . . Posted by Dave Zimmerman at November 23, 2005 11:36 AM
Interesting site. Good job. Bookmarked. Posted by: John Smith at December 25, 2005 12:11 PMPost a comment
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