(with an assist from the late, great Henri Nouwen)

It is a “joyous burden”, the crazy vocational move of becoming a pastor. I call it a move, a further calling that began at my baptism October 15^th, 1961. That too was a continuation of the saving act in circa 33 A.D. A sage seminary professor told us that our vocation already started when we were “splashed in the bath.” Since then, we have been “walking wet”. True, I spent four years being trained, taught skills, and yet all of us graduates that are ordained into the ministry of Word and Sacrament or commissioned into the ministry of Word and Service are hardly experts. Mine is a “professing profession”. I am more comfortable with that than being a skilled technician of the “craft” of ministry. I pray that I will always have something worthwhile to say, even as there is so much Good News to profess.

Sometimes I need to get away, sometimes on the spur of the moment – like this week. Cancelling things I am routinely responsible for. Another sage professor invited us in our first semester to “rob time” and go on a retreat. Some of us were like “yeah, right. Papers to write, assignments to read, it’s been twenty-five years since I was in college,…”. How could we possibly relax, unwind, when there was so much to do that we deemed to be time-sensitive, urgent even? We were unwitting victims of our own tyranny.

We profess, confess our Christian faith. As profess-ors, we share in the baptismal calling and vocation. And we don’t have to be professionals at it! God can employ and equip anyone by the power of the Holy Spirit. Being His presence in the world as people suffer and go through daily trials. Given the perfect prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ, we move forward in faith. We do not know, cannot comprehend, how vast and unconditional that loving support is. When we feel it, our skin can literally tingle with that surge. I wish that for you, dear blog reader.

Pastor Art