I’ve noticed that when work gets complicated, I often find myself fixing something that isn’t very important.
All the stuff I've done with DeckZero [1], messing about with scripts and file formats to try and make some sort of coherent system [2], mucking about with daft little machines [3] -- most of it is probably unnecessary by any rational standard. But I've enjoyed myself through it all and to be honest, that's rationale enough for me. I think the reason for this has a lot to do with the job I do.
I'm a Methodist minister in a rural part of the UK. I'm responsible for overseeing a team of ordained staff and lay people, leading around 50 small churches and some mission projects. It's a fulfilling and challenging role. I have been in ministry for more than 30 years, but it never 'gets old'. There is always something new, something surprising, and always the opportunity to meet people in the highs and lows of their lives. I'm constantly amazed at the privilege I've been given.
But there are frustrations, too. Methodism, along with most of the Christian churches in Britain, isn't in the best shape. Defining the problems we face is easy. Identifying the solutions is much trickier. In fact, my view is that the troubles of the church aren't rooted in the church at all, which must mean that the solutions to these problems don't lie in the church either. So I spend my days dealing with intractable issues, responding to questions that have no answers and labouring to find resolutions which my instincts tell me are always going to be out of reach.
Contrast that with the kind of computer issues I've been giving myself to solve: how do I add recurring events to a calendar based on a single txt file? Can I ditch PowerPoint for worship presentations online? [4] Will my extremely poor coding skills extend to writing something useful? The problems I've given myself to solve at the computer are attractive precisely because they can be solved. There is a command to run, an error to understand, a before and an after. When I've wrestled with a problem for a while, I at least know whether I've got anywhere near a solution. The very human situations of ministry are rarely so obliging and what looks like an answer today might be anything but by tomorrow.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm a minister to my bones and I wouldn't swap.
But, just sometimes, it's nice to have problems that can actually be solved.
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[1] kunulo.smol.pub/2026-08-22-deckzero
[2] kunulo.smol.pub/2026-09-23-calendar
[3] kunulo.smol.pub/2026-09-20-cardputer
[4] kunulo.smol.pub/2026-09-07-presentations
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richard <AT> deckzero <DOT> uk