This week the Pastor is speeking about service.
He spoke about being the body of Christ in the world, not just in word, but in deed. He asked us to look at our lives and see where God is calling us to serve.
During the week I answer phones. I sit at a desk, and when someone calls I transfer them or take a message, schedule appointments, talk to clients, doctors, dentists, vets, teachers of my boss' kids. I am a typical secretary and I love my job. I get to interact with people, and I get time to myself. I have space on the wall for framed pictures of my family: sisters, brothers, neices, nephews, my beloved parents. I enjoy eating my chicken salad sandiwches on my lunch break and listening to music.
But my life wasn't always that simple. When I first graduated from college with a degree in Journalism I found myself drawn back into the church I had grown up in. There were so many teenagers and no one to lead them, not one person willing to spend time with them or tell them they were loved. So I put on hold my dreams of pursuing my master's, or taking up that internship at the New York Times, and I settled into my role as Youth Pastor at my church.
I had never had such intense connections with kids younger than me; they were so full of life, so angsty, passionate, so ready to change the world starting with the church. So we pursued those dreams and started to make changes...and started to make some people very angry and uncomfortable. We weren't interested in the walls of the church, we wanted to go beyond, to serve the way that Jesus did. It wasn't long before I was asked to leave, none too kindly for my "worldy" ideas of ministry. I left, disillusioned and downhearted. Two months later I took the job that I've had now for 10 years.
Sometimes I think I gave up too easy, settled into life the way everyone seems to do. What if I had fought for truth? Am I a coward? Is it too late to change the world?
