It's been a while since I have posted. My world has been turned upside down. What I thought was a pastoral appointment made in heaven turned out to be one from hell. All reasons aside, a strong portion of the church's core leadership and I did not connect. We barely made it out of six months. That's pretty unusual. I've been left to discern not only my next step, but who I am. I have focused too much on my role and succeeding in my role as a pastor. I've doing that for a while. I've wanted to accomplish a lot but I haven't been on the same page of some of the church's I've been with. Our needs have diverged. I've considered chaplaincy, pastoral counseling, diversity and inclusion work and I have come to a place where I need to simplify, much like Henry Nouwen did. It is not so important what I am as it is who I am and what I bring to the particular people I am with. A now I have an opportunity; a small parish with whom I will journey as I establish a practice of spiritual direction, pastoral counseling and retreat and workshop leadership in whatever way God will have me to that. The big problems of the world, it's cities, it's violence, it's poverty, it's racism . . . I will remain concerned, but that is other people's work for now. It's not the work of a pastor living in the Adirondack mountains with it's mountains, lakes and streams. I need to find my balance for now and focus on the inner life and spiritual development. Don't get me wrong. I will not be quiet about the pervasive racism towards African Americans and Hispanics and blatant disregard of the dignity and rights of GLBT people within our denomination and in our annual conference. But God is calling me to take care of me, by being me, sharing me, being with others, listening to them, being part of their lives as pastor, teacher, mentor, coach and friend.
The Spiritual work of today is not Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Sikh, Indigenous, Agnostic, Humanist, Baha'i etc . . . The spiritual work is spiritual. We all connect at a spiritual level. We are all who we are and God is present with us, whether we know God in Theistic or Non-theistic terms. There is a great spiritual work to do that begins with seeing each other as human beings, who are essentially spiritual beings who are seeking to grow spiritually, to connect with our deeper nature and the deeper nature of others. The fruit of the spirit are essentially the same whatever our traditions are. We all value love, peace, justice, generosity, kindness, forgiveness, truth, spiritual existential knowledge, Whatever our path is, we need to be faithful to it and know that others ware walking their paths as faithfully as thy can. These values go beyond dogma to Truth, to knowing God, to knowing Self, to Being and sharing together in that Being in true community. This is what we mean by Kingdom of God. I prefer Beloved Community of all Beings. This is our communal call as human beings. Can we live in love together, in peace together, not in compromise but in Being. Let us be still for a while, silent and appreciate ourselves in this very moment, doing nothing, just being, breathing, being aware of everything within us and around us, at peace.
La paz, peace to you, from the One true One and all the Holy one's past and present.
Will Baez; Svetambar
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