Breathing Room

It is a typical Monday morning here in the office. I’ve had fifteen visits from folks who have just wanted to talk with me; three phone calls; one phone message; a fax; sixteen emails; two text messages; and all the mail that was in my mailbox. Not to mention the fact that I have yet to clear away my desk from yesterday’s worship service, and last night’s bible study. I am not complaining, mind you. I like people. I like life when things get busy. It is invigorating – most of the time. Mondays are like trying to play catcher to about fifteen little league pitchers who are all throwing wild!

Mondays are strange. It is the beginning of the work week, however, it isn’t the beginning of the week. I start my weeks on Sundays. (I know, Sunday is supposed to be a Sabbath time for Christians, or so someone once said. I take my Sabbath rest on Fridays. The common misconception is that preachers only work an hour a week. A pastor friend of mine once told me that “preachers work more than that. We work weekends and holidays!” I think he may be on to something there.)

Truth be told, being a pastor is fun. It is filled with opportunities to make a difference in peoples’ lives, to watch each generation draw closer to God in their daily walks with Christ, and to be the link to God in the midst of all the craziness of life. To watch that smile that comes over a sweet, innocent face when a small child takes that piece of bread and the juice while you say to them that “this means God loves you very much,” is to reach out and touch God’s face. To be there when someone “gets it” and catches that glimpse of the eternal, that makes it all worthwhile.

But it is also a difficult task. To sit at someone’s bedside and watch the last breath God has given them exhale into nothingness, and to hold their hand into eternity, is a moment that no pastor ever forgets. To watch as a marriage that has been barely held together by wishful thinking fall apart like so much dust in the wind, can break your heart. To have shared the life-giving, life-sustaining message of hope and salvation to someone who is struggling with all the entrapments of worldliness, only to watch them walk away, rejecting the God who loves them so much that not even the only begotten Son was spared, can rend the soul.

Ministry requires that you have the ability to do several things at once – kind of like that circus performer who spins the plates on a series of dowels. Ministry means that you have kind of a double vision – able to see the immediate faith issues before you while at the same time being able to focus on the long distance vision and direction that the church is called by God to go. It means being able to know that sometimes, not everyone is going to be happy. It means that occasionally, someone’s feelings may be hurt. And while it is never a pastor’s aim to have that happen, it still, nonetheless happens.

Since I started writing this article, I’ve had three more people knock on my door for a short visit. I’ve also had two more phone calls. It is a typical Monday morning. Still, it is a good day, because God is still good. And God’s grace is still very much present, and definitely appreciated. After a moment or two of reflection, I believe that it is precisely that Amazing, Holy Grace that allows us to have a moment of breathing room – especially when we need it most. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,
Brad