I should not have tempted fate with my last post.
The past week was powerful, beautiful chaos. But in the midst of it, I don't feel as if I am off-set from a place of peace. This is rather unusual. Perhaps it is that I now have a few years of full time ministry under my belt, and I'm no longer scrambling to keep up with congregational and worship life.
Or perhaps it is growth.
A colleague who is new to ministry had been commenting to another who had been in ministry for 30 years, about how she had lost sight of her own spiritual discipline. His reply: 'welcome to pastoral ministry.'
Now, this is not a new phrase or comment for most of us who work in parish life in some form. Which, in and of itself, is terribly sad. But for a veteran of this call to welcome a new pastor to a rather hope-less voyage of ordained ministry...
But it does not have to be this way. This is not the path of ordained ministry I signed up for, nor will I follow it. When we are called to offer a Gospel path to the folks who asked us to serve their congregation, we are called to take care of our own spiritual lives and invite them to care for theirs as well.
Peace in chaos
Creation in stillness
Prayer in demanding times
Hope in bare, unyielding landscapes.
1 comment:
Came upon your blog as I blog rolled today. I love your committment to maintaining your own walk with God. My husband and I have been in lay ministry for more years than I like to count and have seen a number of folk wear themselves out and go totally astray because their priorities got changed gradually. Keep teh faith, we serve an amazing God.
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