It's been a while since I posted one of these so here's the catch-up.

The Phoenix Affirmations are a set of ideas meant to define Progressive Christianity. They are not meant to be a series of iron-clad doctrines that believers are required to hold. Rather they are a description of what is out there in this huge, but often misunderstood, branch of Christianity.

The Affirmations are broken into three sections, reminding us of Jesus teaching to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself." The first section has 4 points about what it means to love God, the second has 4 points about loving your neighbor, and the last, 4 points about loving yourself.

The last 4 can be a little controversial because "loving yourself" can sound like the narcissism, or self-indulgence. As I hope you will see, it's neither of those things.

For 1-10, see the archives of my other blog.

#11.Realizing the benefits of prayer, worship, recreation, and healthiness in addition to work.

Modern people, and especially Americans, have a tendancy to think that work is the highest possible good. To be a worthwhile person you have to put in long hours at the job, even if that means neglecting things like personal health and time with your family. We value people by productivity, and we measure this by the time someone puts in, and by how much they earn.

But this is a terrible way to evaluate people's worth. Jesus didn't value people like this, but saw the value in them regardless of their earning potential or how likely they were to wil Employee of the Month. He taught that every person is a child of God, and there's more value in that than in any reward we get in the marketplace.

That's not to say that we should slack off. Doing what you do with pride and dedication is a wonderful thing. It has to be put in perspective, though, because there are other things that are just as--or more--important. God doesn't just want us to be hard-workers, but good parents, friends, spouses, neighbors, and much more. We can do these things only if we take time to spend with the people we love, to cultivate our spirituality, and to just have fun.

God wants you to be productive, but God also wants you to be happy, loving, spiritual, and fulfilled... I wonder why it seems so hard for us to do it.