How Far Are You Willing To Go?
"Are you willing to lose it all?" --Glen Beck (heard repeatedly on his radio show)
"Baptism, whenever it occurs, sets into motion a lifetime of turning and detoxification. As Luther said, every day of our lives, we must wake up and volunteer for death, praying God to finish in us that which was begun in us in our Baptism." --William Willimon, Peculiar Speech: Preaching to the Baptized, pg. 63
The first quote by nationally syndicated radio talk show host, Glen Beck, refers directly to the current economic crisis. IF President Obama is right and our economy will be unsalvagable save by his salvific stimulus stipend, are you...am I...willing to lose it all? The house. The cars. The luxuries, ways of life, standards, habits, customs, and comforts. Are you...am I...willing to lose it all.
I'm on the verge of losing it all. In 97 days, I'm leaving a system that has housed, clothed, and sustained me for the last 5 years of my life. I'm making a foray back into the real world of rewards not entitlements, of privileges not rights. When there is a bureaucracy of one, who can you blame? In 97 days, I'm back in a parish. Gone are the 30 days of leave per year. Gone is about 30% of my current salary and it's benes such as free health club membership and tax-free shopping. In 97 days, I lose all of this.
Am I ready? Define ready. Do I have a place to pastor (a.k.a. a "job)? Nope. Do I know where I'm going? Uh-uh. Do I have a place to live. Not yet. Am I ready? By many standards, no. And this is so liberating and detoxifying I can hardly stand it!
I have done just about all I can do. I've set in motion the ecclesiastical bureaucracy that will help to find me a place to pastor (a.k.a. a "job") and I've enacted my network of classmates and former colleagues telling them that I'm looking for a church. I've double-checked all my paperwork and told my superiors to send it everywhere. In my tradition, there's not much else that I can do but sit back and wait for a Call.
My wife and I have started making contingency plans. How would we pay for things? Where would we live? How would we survive? These are plans that scare her to death and liberate me to life.
Don't you see how exciting all of this is? God has something amazing in store for me! He's not going to allow me to go to my next position as though I did everything to make it happen. He's going to show His hand at work in our world and I am going to be able to see it and feel it and appreciate it and celebrate it.
I can't wait to see what happens! Don't you wish you were in a position to experience the same thing?
"Baptism, whenever it occurs, sets into motion a lifetime of turning and detoxification. As Luther said, every day of our lives, we must wake up and volunteer for death, praying God to finish in us that which was begun in us in our Baptism." --William Willimon, Peculiar Speech: Preaching to the Baptized, pg. 63
The first quote by nationally syndicated radio talk show host, Glen Beck, refers directly to the current economic crisis. IF President Obama is right and our economy will be unsalvagable save by his salvific stimulus stipend, are you...am I...willing to lose it all? The house. The cars. The luxuries, ways of life, standards, habits, customs, and comforts. Are you...am I...willing to lose it all.
I'm on the verge of losing it all. In 97 days, I'm leaving a system that has housed, clothed, and sustained me for the last 5 years of my life. I'm making a foray back into the real world of rewards not entitlements, of privileges not rights. When there is a bureaucracy of one, who can you blame? In 97 days, I'm back in a parish. Gone are the 30 days of leave per year. Gone is about 30% of my current salary and it's benes such as free health club membership and tax-free shopping. In 97 days, I lose all of this.
Am I ready? Define ready. Do I have a place to pastor (a.k.a. a "job)? Nope. Do I know where I'm going? Uh-uh. Do I have a place to live. Not yet. Am I ready? By many standards, no. And this is so liberating and detoxifying I can hardly stand it!
I have done just about all I can do. I've set in motion the ecclesiastical bureaucracy that will help to find me a place to pastor (a.k.a. a "job") and I've enacted my network of classmates and former colleagues telling them that I'm looking for a church. I've double-checked all my paperwork and told my superiors to send it everywhere. In my tradition, there's not much else that I can do but sit back and wait for a Call.
My wife and I have started making contingency plans. How would we pay for things? Where would we live? How would we survive? These are plans that scare her to death and liberate me to life.
Don't you see how exciting all of this is? God has something amazing in store for me! He's not going to allow me to go to my next position as though I did everything to make it happen. He's going to show His hand at work in our world and I am going to be able to see it and feel it and appreciate it and celebrate it.
I can't wait to see what happens! Don't you wish you were in a position to experience the same thing?
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