STAYING IN TOUCH
|
When I left active church ministry—I
call it “retail religion”—there came a time to assess what I wanted to do
next. Actually, I always liked what I was doing and thought it valued and
important. My highest priority was for pastoral work, often in crisis circumstances.
Another priority was teaching. My preaching was more on the teaching side.
|
What I liked least was institutional
maintenance. Committees, budgets, multi-program planning, staff management,
and recruitment of new members and new leadership. I always had success
at these jobs, but grew tired of incessant meetings and inevitable pettiness.
If I could do my life without these things, I would be happier. I’ realize
that the church system needed such things, but not from me.
|
It seemed natural for me to try to maintain
relationships if I could. Professional issues required distancing myself
from former parishioners. But I had a host of colleagues and other friends
scattered around to satisfy my needs. That's when we started publishing the
“blue sheet.” It was intended to be a stopgap, one year activity until I
found something more legitimate to do here in Corvallis where we had decided
we would stay to let Jean do a teaching career.
|
Now, more than 25 years later, here
I am writing still another back page. I try to limit my mailing list to those
who appear to have actual interest, yet maintain enough to qualify for a
non-profit postage rate. Thus, I am in touch with many via the Post Office.
|
Since my transition there have been
two great technological changes that I would have welcomed while in active
church ministry. The first is the cell phone, which would have allowed more
freedom from the office where I often was waiting for an expected call. Crisis
availability when away from home or office would have been helpful.
|
The second technology is the computer
and with it, e-mail.
|
I still don't have a cell phone and
don't really need It. But I do have a laptop and e-mail, which I keep close
wherever I am. This has been an amazing thing. Right now I have somewhat
personal messages from a couple of places in California, in Oregon and in
London, England. People often share depths of concern worthy of a thoughtful
response. Years of pastoral listening have helped me hear even when people
write.
|
I try to be careful not to pass information
that needs to remain personal. Sometimes I know that the person would be
glad to know that something of their story were known, especially if it would
help or inspire others. Some reports inspire and encourage me. Like the one
from London, for instance, the daughter of a lady who was once organist in
my first church. This lady is in London assisting her own daughter who has
just given birth to a Downs Syndrome child, it was an expected event, which
they chose to accept with positive joy. I had heard this was coming, now
I get the report, “My daughter and the little fe/Ia are home from the hospital
and both are doing brillIantly.” People often want to share with people who
care, and I feel complimented to be in that network.
|
She also made a comment about my traditional
closing—For the Moment—which may possibly make people think. She says, “‘For
the Moment’ is so appropriate, for if we don't grasp the moment, recognize
it, treasure it. it is lost and we have missed it.“ That is only part
of my idea of “moment.” I think of a “moment” as, what Marcus Borg calls,
‘a thin place” between our human level of consciousness and the higher level,
whether you call it “God,” “Spirit,” or just Mystery. Such “moments” happen.
|
There is still another level of “moment.”
That is the moment of real connection. In preaching I would sometimes sense
an almost magnetic connection with my audience, It's almost a spiritual moment.
Sometimes a conversation moves to a level of communion in which spoken words
become unnecessary. Those are precious “moments,” known to most pastors and
therapists who engage in deep conversation.
|
It is possible to have such connection
in e-mail. I have had numerous honest to God “moments” in the shared words
that appear on my screen. Martin Buber talked about the difference between
I and It” and “I and Thou.” When depth meets depth, there is a “moment.”
|
So, to make a short story long, that's
a part of what I've been about since making “moment ministries” my form
of pastoral activity. I commend it, not as a career, because there's no
income from it, but as a way of being. Anyone can develop “moment” skills.
In fact, it's highly recommended. It's a Christian way to be, and Buddhist
as well. Or you don't have to be religious at all. You just have to stay
in touch.
— Art Morgan, January 2005
|
|
|