Sabbatical reflections
Plus, an Uneasy Citizenship update, recent required reading, and my five favorite books of the year
My sabbatical didn’t officially begin until August, when I would have otherwise been preparing for my typical Fall teaching schedule. In reality, though, I have been on an extended break since May, after submitting grades for the Spring 2022 semester.
My sabbatical has been, in one word, lifegiving.
Don’t get me wrong; I love teaching. I love being in the classroom with students, where we explore big ideas, interrogate theories and evidence, and challenge our preconceived notions about the world. I also enjoy the relational component of teaching at a university like mine, where we really do get to know our students in their time with us. So when my sabbatical for Fall 2022 was approved, I was a bit conflicted about being away from the classroom for several months.
Everything, it turned out, went great. I still saw students from time to time, whether it was advising ongoing projects, discussing future plans, or assisting with graduate school applications. It’s not as if I was a ghost to the campus. In fact, I ended up writing a great deal from my office, which, being at the end of the hall on the top floor of a noncentral building, provided more than enough peace and quiet for my writing process.
I was utterly unprepared for how much I enjoyed not teaching — specifically, not having a regular schedule to maintain and regular lectures and discussions to prepare. Like I said, I enjoy teaching, But not having that commitment for a few months while I work on writing projects was an incredible relief.
Additionally, I wasn’t ready for how restful it was to work at my own pace. Some days, if I felt like I had written enough, I could stop after lunch and go for a long walk or run.1 I could read books for pleasure. I could listen to podcasts. I could work on projects around the house (and watch the progress on our home renovation project, courtesy of our university’s Construction Management students). Going back to a regular schedule next semester, while inevitable, is going to be a rude awakening.
There are things I wish I would have done differently. For example, while I’m pleased with my writing progress, I do wish I had been more disciplined in setting weekly writing targets. There were weeks where I hardly wrote at all, and other weeks where I wrote a lot. Consistency would have been an improvement. Also, I wish I would have said “no” to more requests, whether it was random meetings with students or happenings on campus. I don’t regret what I did, but in the future, I’ll be more intentional in this regard.
That said, it’s hard to overstate how thankful and grateful I am to have had my first sabbatical. I’m blessed to work in an industry where such a thing exists, and at a university where such a thing is normal. And while I’m excited to see what the next six years bring, I’m already looking forward to my next sabbatical.
In other news, Uneasy Citizenship is almost done.2 It’s bizarre to think that this kernel of an idea I had almost four years ago is now about ready to submit to my publisher. I can't wait to share more in the months ahead.
In the meantime, here are some items worth checking out:
Writing for Current, Jay Green presents a new way of thinking about Christian political and cultural engagement. Using a quadrant system, Green describes and applies four labels pertaining to current public discourse about these issues. The result is a unique and thoughtful way of navigating how Christians discuss and think about major issues of the day.
Writing for Deseret News, Kelsey Dallas reports on a restaurant in Virginia that declined to serve a group of politically conservative Christians due to their views on sexuality, gender, and marriage. The group compared their treatment to racial discrimination, but legal scholars noted that courts have generally allowed businesses to turn away customers for political reasons.
Becket, one of the country’s leading advocacy groups on religious liberty issues, published its annual Religious Freedom Index. It’s a long and detailed report (and very much worth perusing), but here are some key findings:
Most Americans demonstrate support for pluralism in various ways, although younger generations tend to be less supportive than older generations.3
About 70 percent of Americans believe a website designer should be able to conduct business in accordance with their religious beliefs, regardless of their religion.4
24 percent of Americans express little or no appreciation for the contributions of religious citizens to American society (up from 17 percent in 2019).
Writing for Law and Liberty, I argued in favor of pluralism in an essay exchange with Doug Walker. In his essay Walker argued that pluralism can inevitably lead to moral relativism, and that conservatives should be wary of such a framework. In response, I argued that conservatives ought to embrace pluralism as the best system we have for maintaining the rights of minorities in a diverse and complex society.
Finally, here are my favorite books I read this year:
Reorganized Religion, by Bob Smietana — A journalistic reflection on how churches and religious communities have changed in recent years, how these changes reflect the larger shifts to organized religion in America, and what this means for the future of religion in an increasingly secular society.
Radical American Partisanship, by Nathan Kalmoe and Lilliana Mason — A superb scientific examination of the ways in which political polarization and negative partisanship are becoming more extreme and even violent, and what (if anything) can be done about it.
The Splendid and the Vile, by Erik Larson — An account of the earliest days of Winston Churchill’s tenure as prime minister during World War II, combining scores of primary source material to create a thrilling and compelling story of courage and resistance.
Positively Fifth Street, by James McManus — One of the strangest works of nonfiction I’ve ever read, it’s a hypnotizing true story of murder, gambling, and old Las Vegas, with the author playing an unexpected starring role due to his surprising run in the World Series of Poker.
American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin — A captivating biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, covering his early years in New York and New Mexico, his studies in Europe with legends of physics, his rise to national prominence during (and especially following) the Manhattan Project, and his reckoning with the fallout of his work on the future of humanity.
I also got really into running over the past few months. After most of my life getting winded running a mile, I’m now running regular 10k’s and am planning to run my first half-marathon in April. It’s been a wonderful way to blow off steam and stay in shape.
Well, a draft is almost done, but still…
Interestingly, on questions involving tolerance for religious minorities, older generations tend to be less supportive than younger ones.
This question references a real Supreme Court case, 303 Creative v. Elenis.
I'm looking forward to reading your book. I enjoy reading your insights. Keep writing! 🙂