The Rev. Tony Setley is a Lutheran pastor, author, chaplain, football coach, and public philosopher. His professional ministry has included congregational, military, campus, and federal law-enforcement chaplaincy. He holds degrees from Lebanon Valley College and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree with a focus on preparing chaplains to help those dealing with moral injury. His writing explores the intersection of philosophy, theology, and ordinary human experience. He lives in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, with his wife and son.
Tony’s latest book is The Relative Unimportance of It All: And Why Everything Matters Anyway.
Connect with him on social media at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TonySetley
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonysetley/
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in the suburbs of Reading.
When did you begin writing?
I write constantly for my work as a pastor, but this is my first book.
Do you feel your hometown influenced your writing?
I've never thought about that. I grew up in a medium-sized area. Not a big city and not a small town/ rural area either. I think in terms of legacy expectations, those from where I am might better see the way context shapes the judgement of legacy and importance. People accomplish things here that are more impressive than in a smaller area and less than in the big city - you see the relative flexibility of importance in real time.
What is this book about?
It’s about the expectation that our lives should be important, and what that expectation costs us. We often measure value through achievement, influence, or how long something will last. The book asks whether those are adequate measures of a life. A person can be largely unknown and still have a life full of experiences that deserve care and attention. I follow that thought into familiar situations: earning a living, raising a family, enjoying something, losing someone. I’m trying to understand how we can live responsibly and with some enjoyment without requiring everything we do to justify our existence.
What inspired you to write it?
I wanted to examine a conclusion that often goes unquestioned: if something will eventually disappear, then perhaps it doesn’t really matter. That seemed worth challenging. The fact that an experience ends doesn’t undo what happened within it. We understand that when someone is suffering. Telling them their pain won’t matter in a thousand years would be a terrible response, because their pain matters now. I wanted to follow that recognition beyond suffering and ask what it means for the rest of life. What are we overlooking when we insist on judging everything from the standpoint of a distant future?
Did you perform research for this book? How did you
approach finding the sources you required?
Not particularly anything I'd call research. It's written in the style of philosophical essay/ treatises rather than an academic book.
How is it similar to other books in its genre or field of study? How is it different?
It shares the concern of a lot of reflective nonfiction: how do we live well with limited time, competing demands, and the knowledge that our lives will end? My approach is to question why we make lasting significance a requirement in the first place. I don’t try to reassure readers that their influence will somehow endure forever. I ask whether they need that reassurance in order to recognize the value of their lives. The book also gives considerable attention to our responsibilities toward other people. Enjoying your own experience is only part of the question. How you affect someone else’s experience matters too.
What is the most important thing readers can learn from your book?
That the value of a life can’t be reduced to its most impressive accomplishments. Accomplishments are part of a life. So are relationships, responsibilities, enjoyment, and experiences that never produce anything you could put on a résumé. We lose sight of a great deal when only the achievements count. I hope readers become more able to recognize value without first looking for evidence of success or permanence. That can change how they regard themselves, and it can change how they treat people whose lives don’t look impressive from the outside.
Where can readers buy your book?
Readers can find the book in all formats on Amazon
What is up next for you?
I’m continuing my Doctor of Ministry studies and getting settled in Florida.
Is there anything you would like to add?
I hope readers give themselves permission to disagree with parts of the book and stay with the questions anyway. These are subjects we all approach through our own experiences. And I hope the title doesn’t give the impression that I’m dismissing the things people care about. I take those things very seriously. I’m asking whether the demand to be important sometimes makes it harder to care for them well. We have limited time, and the people around us are living through theirs. That seems like a good place to begin.
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