1. I got to get up every day and go to work at something I really believed in doing. I had many ups and downs in my career but I never had a moment when I doubted I was called and gifted by God for the work I did. This did not mean that I had all the answers, but I knew that if I remained faithful, those answers would come. I never had that confidence in teaching or being a professional musician.
2. A decent pension. I give thanks everyday that my denomination has a decent pension plan.
3. Flexible schedule. Except for Sundays and funerals, I liked being able to dictate my own schedule. It meant for some creative planning with my secretary, but I always put in more time than was prescribed. And as I grew in the ministry, I was able to find the time to care for myself as well.
4. Intellectual stimulation. I once heard Alec Baldwin say that he went to church every Sunday because he liked to “hear what ‘professional thinkers’ had to say.” I also had a bishop who believed that you preached with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. I do not understand how clergy get ‘in a rut.’ Each day holds something different, whether it is someone in the hospital or finding a new way to reach Sunday school kids. This is not a profession in which one get’s bored.
5. The simple joy of meeting God each day and getting paid for it!
6. BONUS: All the people I have met. I have met and been touched by famous folks and the homeless, believers and unbelievers. I would never had the chance to meet all the people in any other profession that called me to integrity and wholeness.
6. BONUS: All the people I have met. I have met and been touched by famous folks and the homeless, believers and unbelievers. I would never had the chance to meet all the people in any other profession that called me to integrity and wholeness.
6 comments:
Professional thinkers. That's a nice way to put it. I have to be stimulated by more than one way to see something... Every day has to be fresh. I love your insights and agree.
RE the Bonus: Since I gather you were in the Episcopal church in New York City, I've often wondered if you met/knew Madeleine L'Engle.
Not a profession to get bored in- that's for sure!
bored? in a rut? i think it happens when we stop listening. stop seeing. somehow become numbed. it has happened to me... and that's when i know i've shut down and become too self-focused.
acess to people... definitely a bonus of ministry, and so true!
Great Play!! These are encouraging words indeed
Alec Baldwin said that. huh. Good for him. I do like being a 'professional thinker,' myself. it's one of my perks, though I didn't express it quite so pithily.
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