This morning I had the privilege to join a family to witness an adoption. It was a great experience. Just a few hours later I was consoling a different mother as she processed great pain that was unfolding in her family. It was a difficult conversation.
One family I know well. The other I only met today. One event was scheduled for weeks, the other squeezed into the gaps of a busy day. One oozed with joy and hugs, the other was full of pain and guilt. They represent the diversity of the experiences unfolding in congregations and communities each and every week. But for all their differences, both called for a pastor at a significant moment of their lives. I happened to be that pastor.
Yet, it was not really me they wanted. It was the presence of Christ that I, as a minister, in a small way represent.
On days like today I am overwhelmed by the places that I am invited in. I seem to live way over my head. The key for survival for the minister comes from the simple words of that first Baptist minister....
"I must decrease and He must increase."
Truly on days like today, we have nothing else to offer.
Tim
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1 comment:
Tim,
Terrific thoughts about what it means to be a pastor to your people!
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