tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post114844217245952537..comments2023-10-31T05:56:45.788-07:00Comments on LutheranChik's "L" Word Diary: Call and ResponseUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148702636759326542006-05-26T21:03:00.000-07:002006-05-26T21:03:00.000-07:00We're going back there this fall...what a great re...We're going back there this fall...what a great retreat venue! (Alas, no Amazing Electric Waterfall, though.) <BR/><BR/>This time we were in the Hastings area. Is that near you?LutheranChikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02685566332651377907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148702016226607842006-05-26T20:53:00.000-07:002006-05-26T20:53:00.000-07:00Boy can I relate, LC.I'm grateful for the "discern...Boy can I relate, LC.<BR/><BR/>I'm grateful for the "discernment experience" I had last fall (in ECUSA, in our part of the world---and are you back in that place where we met before?).<BR/><BR/>...at the same time, the process left me, if anything, <I>less sure</I> than ever of what God really wants for me, vocation-wise (so I've defaulted to my standard, pragmatic two---seeking a "paycheck and a partner"---and I feel much better for it, thank you! ;-/).<BR/><BR/>Sometime the Holy Spirit IS the <I>Spirit of Pragmatism</I>, I think.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148557450692063772006-05-25T04:44:00.000-07:002006-05-25T04:44:00.000-07:00Lutheran Chik - Thanks again for all the insight a...Lutheran Chik - <BR/><BR/>Thanks again for all the insight and great quotes. Having finished my synod's version of laity training, I am casting about for what is next. <BR/><BR/>You have helped me realize that I am not the only one. Our church needs all of us to be who we are, where we are.<BR/><BR/>Take your time, you know God will be in touch.<BR/><BR/>weavinglibrarianWeavingLibrarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15998535142004677025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148505301574688112006-05-24T14:15:00.000-07:002006-05-24T14:15:00.000-07:00I'd go along with mata and AJ on this LC :)This is...I'd go along with mata and AJ on this LC :)<BR/><BR/>This is making me think of a Guys and Dolls song......Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18117461119651369877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148494061909990942006-05-24T11:07:00.000-07:002006-05-24T11:07:00.000-07:00Well, and...even as I'm confidently stating all th...Well, and...even as I'm confidently stating all the things I don't think I want to do or am not good at doing, I know that I might wind up on the receiving end of a divine "Yoo-hoo? Remember me?" (which is how I got on board this bus in the first place) or dope slap, a la one Paul of Tarsus;-)...so..."Never say never." <BR/><BR/>Tom: How about...anchoress? ROFL Hey -- we're adding an addition at church; they could go ahead and tack on a nice li'l studio apartment off to the side. Although this might put a crimp in my nascent social life.;-)LutheranChikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02685566332651377907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148493681070098712006-05-24T11:01:00.000-07:002006-05-24T11:01:00.000-07:00Well, dear heart, given that you are still in the ...Well, dear heart, given that you are still in the midst of a very deep grief, now is probably a smart time to <I>not</I> make a big vocational decision - or to worry that you should be doing so.<BR/><BR/>Let this little window of time be what it is. Just breathe your way through it, pray your way through it. You will know when there is a ripeness that calls for a decision. <BR/><BR/> And since we are all finding excellent quotes today , I will toss in this one by Barry Stevens:<BR/><BR/>"Don't push the river; it flows by itself."<BR/><BR/><BR/>s'my opinion, anyway...ymmvMata Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04097615918403870130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148487869673284772006-05-24T09:24:00.000-07:002006-05-24T09:24:00.000-07:00From the sound of it the ELCA has a lot more oppor...From the sound of it the ELCA has a lot more opportunities for ministry than the ELCIC. For one thing you're way bigger than we are so it stands to reason that scale would make more things available.<BR/><BR/>I talked about just this with one of my former seminary profs because I had a parishioner ask me what the lay diaconate is all about because he thought he might be called to more service in/with/through the church but didn't know what or how. I couldn't tell him much because our church tends to be so rigorously academic in so many ways and he's not the academic type. I think all of our churches need to get their acts together when it comes to variety in the ministry. We tend to be very focussed on the parish model and the lay diaconate in specialized ministries (music, teaching, etc.) But the church's ministry has (or should have) more variety than that. The idea of the priesthood of all believers is a great gift that Lutherans have given to the church but we don't do it well ourselves. Maybe we have to re-discover what that means. Or maybe we need to discern new forms of ministry. Whatever the answer is, currently our church's view of ministry is very limited.<BR/><BR/>So, what do you do? I've said before that I think you'd be a great pastor. As <I>The Police</I> said "Poets priests and politicians have words to thank for their positions." Well I've hardly come across someone as good with words as you are. And you seem to have a compassionate heart. If you don't see yourself as a pastor then maybe you need to let your imagination lead you to some other kind of ministry, maybe something the institutional church hasn't come up with yet.Tom in Ontariohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12154434042794825551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148484524185005092006-05-24T08:28:00.000-07:002006-05-24T08:28:00.000-07:00Oooh, yeah! I really liked that bit about finding ...Oooh, yeah! I really liked that bit about finding God and people who need God in the margins... if nothing else, I color outside the box and tend to feel most at home "in the margins."<BR/><BR/>I also thought of that T.S. Eliot peom when you mentioned "just to circle back again?"<BR/><BR/><I>We shall not cease from exploration<BR/>And the end of all our exploring<BR/>Will be to arrive where we started<BR/>And know the place for the first time.</I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148481335331365052006-05-24T07:35:00.000-07:002006-05-24T07:35:00.000-07:00Discernment is a lifelong process, often painful, ...Discernment is a lifelong process, often painful, sometimes joyful. <BR/><BR/>I found the hardest part to be doing what I felt called to do, rather than what someone else thought I was called to do.<BR/><BR/>I like Songbird's suggestion. God's gifts and calls are many.<BR/><BR/>Blessings to you--you continue to be in my prayers, LC!Rainbow Pastorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16294525557328362313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148476209962734512006-05-24T06:10:00.000-07:002006-05-24T06:10:00.000-07:00Finding God in the margins - resonates with me, to...Finding God in the margins - resonates with me, too.It's something I've been mulling over awhile now in connection with calling, vocation, and the like.<BR/><BR/><BR/> LC - this isn't the first time you've set me rushing off to Amazon. You don't happen to be in league with them by any chance?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10838182.post-1148471867483838362006-05-24T04:57:00.000-07:002006-05-24T04:57:00.000-07:00Since I'm not ELCA, but UCC, I can't speak to your...Since I'm not ELCA, but UCC, I can't speak to your process, but as far as the psychological spelunking goes, we undertake it for persons in care as an example of our covenant understanding. We're in covenant with the candidates and want to know if they're suited to ministry, and we're also in covenant with churches and need to know we're not sending out candidates who are not suited.<BR/>Whether or not you ever go to seminary, you are ministering now in your reflections on the lectionary. Does your denomination have a publishing arm? If so, I would send someone there some of these pieces you have written and see if they have an interest in your work. I find your writing to be a gift in my life.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com