Doing the right thing v.s. doing things right
During my annual conversation today with my friend Chris Moore, an Episcopal priest who has much wisdom and whose book, Solitude, is a welcome support for "alone time" in the midst of the crazy demands of life today, we talked about this notion of form v.s. substance. Chris said that the most common failing of ministers is to insist on their way of doing things without enough regard for their parishioners. He said the distinction is often drawn between "doing things right" and "doing the right thing." When all the energy is put to "doing things right," what gets lost is an appreciation for the dynamics of the experience in question. Say, for instance, a new minister insists on moving a small parish's altar from the wall to be free-standing, disregarding the history and dynamics of the congregation in favor of following the letter of Episcopal regulations. This would be "doing things right," but if it detracted from the congregation's experience of spirit, it would not be "doing the right thing."