i don’t want to care about anyone anymore. and i don’t even mean this in a romantic way, just in a general way (though it applies to my romantic feelings too).
question: can a future priest quit caring about people?
answer: it’s hard to serve people when you don’t care about them.
okay, i’ll keep caring, but sometimes it kills me to do so.
About Me
- EJW
- twenty two year old with a bachelor's of science in english and creative writing, currently attending seminary of the southwest to get my masters of divinity. i am on a journey towards figuring out who i will become. i am an aspirant for holy orders within the episcopal church, which is terrifyingly beautiful. still, i will always be a writer. i am a big dreamer with a yearning to travel, as i've not seen much of the world. i tend to think that i'm an open book, but i'm pretty sure that's not the case as i have many questions for myself that have been left unanswered. in my "free time," i study birds. i am trying to have a strong heart for social justice and lose some of myself in caring for others. i am a proud episcopalian, with a respect for whatever it is that anyone believes. i love to write, i hope you enjoy.
3 comments:
Caring is quite painful sometimes.
But caring means that we get the highs as well as the lows.
/end unsolicited observation
Remember that caring is not he same as being unwilling to see people get hurt, or to watch conflict and tension between two people. I think it is the later impulses that cause clergy and other caregivers to burn out. A parent that never allows a child to fall and scrape their knee is a parent that never allows their child to grow up and learn that sometimes life is painful, or the even more important lesson that falling down once in a while is not the end of the world.
Clergy are called to help congregations grow up into image bearers of God and kingdom workers for God. This does not mean stepping in every time somebody makes a mistake. Doing so not only saps your energy, but it prevents others from ever really having ownership or responsibility for their own work and actions.
If you remember that we care for people out of a duty to God as stewards of all God's creation (and not because we need to support every whim and desire of humanity) I think it helps a little bit. I shouldn't post before coffee, rambling instead of citing sources or giving articulate commentary. So sorry about that...
question: can a future priest quit caring about people?
answer: no
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