Nathan Colquhoun - of The Story - is doing a series on "What is a Pastor?" The link takes you to the fourth installment - links to his other posts in the series are there as well. This topic has been occupying a lot of my thought over the last six months or so.
Nancy gave us a poem that I particularly enjoyed. The thing I like best about poetry is how it needs you to slow down. It needs you to care about every word, every phrase.
And, in a past comment Beth asked about ministering amidst poverty, addictions and hopelessness:we all want to see that what we do is something that makes a difference.
but we do not see what God sees
and it is probably for the best
but we would like to be the one to choose
what things would be best
and what things would be big and awesome
and instantly life changing
so that we could see our power
so that we could see our work
we would like to see what God sees
but God wants our trust
it is He that knows the worth of us
and the worth of what we do
it is God that does the work
that we do not see
and it is so hard to understand this
to remember this
when things look dismal and unchanging
when the things we do look small
our work
is to Love God
and one another
and that looks different to all of us
but we do not see the whole picture
we do not see
but we know
we know
....but when the context has been shot to hell with addictions, abuse, self abuse, poverty, hopelessness, and then I'm coming along behind 'the church' mopping up a lot of bull shit and lies and utter usury, I'm just wondering - where in the world do I start? The best I can come up with is being a friend. I'm wishing I was in a typical mission field --where the culture is intact, and a social structure exists.
Any thoughts?