This sermon was delivered on the occassion of my ordination to Deacon of the Temple of the Jedi Order on 8/11/2015
As Best We Can
“The purpose of the clergy is to help people as best we can to find their own answers to life’s big questions”
No. You won’t find this on a section of the FAQ’s or the charter for the Synod, or anyone’s signature…except perhaps mine. The above is my interpretation of the purpose of the clergy and a very fitting topic for my ordination sermon. It will serve as my compass, to help me find my way should I get lost, but what does it mean?
Clergy are first and foremost “helpers”. We provide support for those in need, not stepping in to do for others what they can do for themselves, but not being afraid to offer a hand as well. We believe in the agency and capability of people to explore their own labyrinths, to ask and answer their own questions, to tame their own dragons. We do not shape and mold people into “model” anything. Instead, we help people (re) discover who they are.
Clergy are lifelong learners. The phrase “as best we can” is continually evolving. The “as best we can” of yesterday will not be the “as best we can” of today and won’t be the “as best we can” of tomorrow, for we will have grown and we will be different.
Life’s big questions may be different for everyone at every stage even though they revolve around some pretty big themes: purpose, life after death, relationships, etc. Therefore, in addition to being supportive and willing to learn, Clergy are also flexible and understanding. They simply deal with the person(s) and situation(s) in front of them, not trying to impose, not trying to create, but working on exploring the answers that are already inside of the individual.
Having unpacked this purpose, I’ve resolved to give myself a few pointers as I embark on this new phase of my journey. You may find that these are useful to you as well, regardless of stage or station.
1. Remember why you are here, doing what you are doing.
There are a couple of reasons why we need a reminder:
a. We may be afraid. Fear can come along and rob of us the potential to fulfill our purpose. It happens. But your purpose must be bigger than your fear. Sometimes we just have to think of all the people we will help. All the lives we will touch both on and offline. Then, even though we may still feel that fear, we can go forward.
b. We may be tired. There are a lot of ways and a lot of reasons to feel tired, especially as a “helper”. We can get stuck in a pattern of simply “doing”, or we may not “do” anything. Frankly, I don’t know which is worse. Tiredness does happen and if you think I’m going to tell you to push through and just deal with it because your purpose has to be bigger than your feelings, then you are wrong. Part of “remembering why you are here” is learning to set healthy boundaries. Know your limits, and when you honestly reach them, express that. Whatever your station and situation, in order to do your job well you need to know when you are at your best and when you are not.
2. Remember it is “as best we can”
This can be looked at in two ways:
a. Go the extra mile. Think of your job, whatever it is, as not just a job, but as a vocation, to be treated with reverence, to be done with excellence. Work with that understanding in mind
b. Learn from your mistakes.As long as we are living, we are going to make mistakes. Mistakes, not successes, are how we grow, how we learn. Mistakes are how we improve our “as best we can” so long as we learn from them.
Finally, I leave you with this quote from Martin Luther King Jr.
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
With this in mind I am happy to take on the mantle of Deacon, and with the Force as my helper and guide I hope to "do my job well" remembering another quote by Martin Luther King Jr.
“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
Thank you and May the Force Be With You
