The Urgent and the Important

Years ago I heard Charles Swindoll make a critical distinction, which he attributed to Dwight Eisenhower. Apparently Eisenhower ordered his assistants to put matters on his desk into two stacks, one marked “Urgent” and the other marked “Important.” 

Both stacks are very important. Both stacks need attention. It would be as irresponsible to ignore one pile as it would the other. However, it is often the case – in matters ranging from public policy to personal health – that urgent matters scream for attention while important matters quietly end up on a back burner. What Eisenhower recognized – at least with regard to this arrangement on his desk – is that we have to be deliberate to ensure that we do not lose sight of the important by, what Swindoll called, “The tyranny of the urgent.” 

The “Urgent” is screaming like a Banshee these days and cannot be ignored. Of course and appropriately our news cycles, business concerns, religious practices, daily work, home life, and common chatter are all about matters related to COVID-19. Safe practices, social distancing, caring for the most vulnerable, and considering what kind of sustainable life will emerge when we eventually see ourselves on the other side of the pandemic are all urgent, necessary, and difficult conversations that deserve our attention. Likewise, just getting by another day in a household of persons whose routines have been thoroughly disrupted can be exhausting. For those who are actively engaged in serving by providing healthcare, food, essential services, and the like, just getting the job done while minimizing the risk of contracting or carrying the virus is a tall order. The urgent feels more urgent right now, more of a common fixation at every level of community, than ever before in most of our lifetimes. 

And then there’s that “Important” stack, sitting over there, quietly and unobtrusively. The extreme urgency of the now almost makes the “Important” pile seem like items for when we have the luxury of time, the leisure to attend to them, not matters with which we can bother at the present. But, this is the stack where the long, slow, daily-monthly-yearly work of justice usually ends up. Environmental justice, economic justice, racial justice, gender justice, food insecurity, educational disparity, voting rights, immigration policies, LGBTQIA protections, disability access, national security, international peacemaking – all of these incredibly important matters can easily be swept aside as we focus on getting the paperwork of an SBA loan into the right hands, retraining ourselves to keep a mask in the car, grieving a loss, or trying to adjust to extreme amounts of solitude and family time. The irony is that the urgency of COVID-19 has brought many of the longer-term inequities into bold relief. 

So, here are some important matters to which you can attend today. I do not suppose that we all share equal conviction about each of them, so this is just a representative sample of how we can ensure that we do not lose sight of the important in the midst of the urgent. 

-       If you haven’t done so already, fill out your Census and send it in. An accurate count is important, since the 2020 Census will influence community funding and congressional representation for the next decade. Information collected in the census will inform the allocation of more than $800 billion in federal funds for states and municipalities each year. If you have filled in and sent in your Census, someone you know might need help or encouragement in filling out their Census.

-       One way to stay engaged in matters like Palestinian-Israeli relations, US policies toward Iran, and underlying causes of racial disparity in COVID-19 cases, is to sign up for Action Alerts from the Presbyterian Mission Agency Office of Public Witness. Find out more here.

-       You can join Bread for the World in ensuring that vulnerable populations will continue to receive SNAP essential needs. Find out more here. 

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What are other ways that we can ensure we do not lose sight of the important while attending to the urgent? I’d love to hear from you. 

Mark of St. Mark