Have MDiv, will do airport runs for money

Vibrant Floridian Friend, who works at the Castle, has helped hook me up with airport runs and a continuing Castle email. A way to stay connected and occasional income are both great things. Today, I drove to the airport about 1 1/2 hours away to pick up a potential student. It was a great, clear, crisp autumn day, perfect for a drive.

On the way to the airport, as I listened to cassettes (the 97 Castle Buick has a cassette player!) I had dug out of old boxes, JT got me thinking about this whole ordination imperfection issue. A long, long, long time ago some really rotten stuff happened to me and I went through therapy to deal with it. The therapist and I talked about putting the horrible event into perspective - seeing what happened as one isolated event among many, one brief moment in time in a lifetime of moments. Doing so helped me regain perspective on the big picture of life when the little picture seemed to be monopolizing my conscious thoughts and actions.

Just like the therapy I went through, I had the epiphany that the ordination is but one isolated event, one moment in time. While it matters and is significant, I want to strive to see all the moments I've spent with those unable to be there as also significant. Along the pathway, I've been so blessed with a multitude of holy ground moments and experiences. I can recall

* heart-to-pain (my pain, her loving heart) talks with Southern Wisdom,
* moments of shared pain, yearning, and friendship with Journey Girl,
* times of theological struggle and wrestling with PMC,
* times of hysterical laughter and frivolity with PMC, Mrs. Awesome and the whole Awesome gang
* times of prayer, support, and joy with Seminary Friend,
* moments of shared laughter, responsibility, creativity, and support with the WAS-beens,
* moments of true transparency and accountability with Small Town Girl,
* Solid friendship with Southern Same Name Lady,
* Times of support, encouragement, admonition and growth with treasured profs like the Writer, the Rebel, and Yoda (among others),
* times of prayer, walking, and talking with the Mentor Women,
* moments of desperate phone calls home with so many beloved souls,
* holy ground conversations with the Kindhearteds, the Hospitables, and Ozzie and Harriett
* and the list goes on and on. I have indeed been blessed by an array of shepherds on this journey.

I'm trying to see each of these moments and memories as just as significant as the ordination itself. While most of the above listed friends will not be present on December 31, their roles and past interactions with me are a part of why I will be there at the altar that day. We have shared holy ground - in chapels, in cars, at lunch tables, on telephones, in restaurants, in bars - and those moments are as precious and as true as the moments in which I will have a stole placed upon my shoulders. I am lucky to have had them in my life, at whatever events, moments, and times they were with me. That is what I choose to treasure.

With these musings in my heart, I picked up Will the Future Student. His enthusiasm, hint of anxiety, and excitement were palpable. His questions were similar to the ones I asked only a few short years ago. My answers took me back to that time of life when I was on the other side of the seminary fence. For an hour or so, I was lucky enough to vicariously re-live all that it meant to be just beginning seminary and just beginning the official call process. I shared the joys of life at the Castle and told him about all that he shouldn't miss: Beer and Theology, classes taught by certain professors, sights and scenes in the town. We talked about his concerns over a fundamentalist group on his college campus, about infant Eucharist, and about my upcoming congregational call. The vicariousness may very well have gone both ways as we shared our current dreams.

I feel lucky to have met Will, and I thank God for the gift of helping me glimpse backward before stepping further forward in this call experience. As we drove up to the Martin Luther statue, currently decorated with statue-sized ONE bracelets, Will could barely contain his enthusiasm. And in my head and heart, I clapped for the Castle as they receive this gifted theologian into their midst.