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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories 'Guitar Player' book recalls the heady days of the '70s and '80s Ashland budget proposal says solar power could attract investment Ashland High School water polo club seeks yard sale donations Final Ashland Middle School band concert of the school year set for May 20 Nashville singer/songwriter with Ashland ties dies of cancer Education Ashland Middle School students put their Spanish-speaking skills to the test Grizzlies claim speech championship Levy backers eye final push Neal Simon: This is a test Grade-school philanthropist Environment Ashland publisher offers prize for environmental book Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection Stopping fire in its tracks Some trails, roads remain closed due to controlled burn Earth Day: Hope for our 'pale blue dot' Business Ride & Drive: 2015 BMW 428i Gran Coupe Ashland Safeway closes Thursday, to reopen as Haggen on Sunday Cars We Remember: Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were ‘more different’ Ride & Drive: 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Silvio Calabi: Taxis and traffic in the olde worlde Politics and elections Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection BREAKING: Baltimore prosecutor charges officers in Gray's death Arthur I. 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Guest Opinion: Ambrose spins a conservative fantasy ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: The courage to ask ... Ashland Calendar, Saturday, May 9 ... Guest Opinion: Ambrose spins a conservative fantasy ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: The courage to ask ... In Good Faith: Dirty work Comment By The Rev. Tim Schenck More Content Now DailyTidings.com By The Rev. Tim Schenck More Content Now Posted May. 6, 2015 at 11:28 AM By The Rev. Tim Schenck More Content Now Posted May. 6, 2015 at 11:28 AM » Social News No, I didn’t actually put it on a scale. But on the first warm day after the long winter of our discontent, I must have picked up 20 pounds of dog poop. I know what you’re thinking. “Tim, don’t you have two teenage boys to do this?” Yes. Yes I do. However if I wanted it picked up before the Fourth of July, it was easier just to do it myself. As I bent down again and again, watching my step at every turn, I rued not doing this while it was all still frozen. I also envied Delilah, our 12-year-old lab/husky mix and the source of all this … stuff … sunning herself while I did all the dirty work. But after a few minutes of grumbling something changed. The fact is, I was enjoying myself. After a long winter, just being outside was a source of joy. Perhaps there was some activity that would have been a drag on a beautiful day but I think even grave digging would have put a spring in my step as the temperature moved into the mid-60s. I’m no philosopher of feces, but this whole experience was a reminder that finding joy amidst drudgery is one of the keys to happiness. St. Benedict, the fourth century “Father of Western Monasticism,” encouraged his monks to view everything they did, no matter how outwardly mundane, as an act of worship. Whether this was tilling the soil or washing dishes or making the bed. I have no idea whether St. Benedict’s monks kept dogs (St. Bernards?) but if so, surely the same concept would apply to poop patrol. This doesn’t mean picking up dog poop will be added to the Sunday morning liturgy at St. John’s — I won’t send everyone out to the backyard of the rectory just after the first reading to experience such a holy act. But it does mean that shifting our perspective, even slightly, allows joy to slip into our lives in unexpected ways. Benedict took this concept further by helping his monks see that every implement or tool they used was a holy object. Thus a rake, when used to the glory of God, was just as special as the silver chalice used to serve communion wine at the altar. It may be difficult to see that plastic Stop ’n Shop bag I was using in my yard as something sacred but I’ll keep trying. What obligatory act in your life might be a window into an unexpected encounter with God? What menial or mindless task might be repurposed to change your perspective in a positive way? These are the questions that rattle around the mind as the long-anticipated spring fever arrives. For a fleeting moment the yard is completely poop free and there’s a zen-like state of bliss. But then, “Hey, Delilah what are you doing over there?!” It never lasts. The Rev. Tim Schenck is the author of “Father Tim’s Church Survival Guide” (Morehouse 2015) and Rector of the Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist in Hingham, Massachusetts. Visit his blog “Clergy Confidential” at clergyconfidential.com or follow him on Twitter at @FatherTim. By The Rev. Tim Schenck More Content Now DailyTidings.com By The Rev. 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