Life Update
I’ve hesitated to write another “life update” blog as I tend to have a trend of significant moves every few years. But this one seems different.
Calling is an interesting and often nebulous concept. Unfortunately, many pastors and preachers have trivialized calling – as something you can miss out on if you aren’t attuned to God or have patterns of sin in your life. I don’t think that perspective is fair. So many things keep us from living the life we want to live or believe we are called to live. From pressure to live the life others want you to live to obligations and responsibilities, and finally, from our inability to be content. The American consumer culture and even the American church have discipled us in discontentment. What if what we have today is enough?
Kristen and I left the hustle behind to live in a rural community south of Flathead Lake in Montana. We yearned for abundant simplicity, less traveled paths, to love where we live, and to serve the community without competing with other churches or faith communities. We wondered what it would look like to simply love our neighbors.
It’s been about 11 months since we packed everything up and journeyed to the Mission Valley. To our east are the majestic Mission Mountains that start the Rocky Mountain range, and to our north are the life-giving waters of Flathead Lake. To our west are the farming plains, and south is the expansive wildlife preserve for bison. For the first time in a long time, perhaps ever, we live connected to our environment.
Over the summer, I was transitioning away from my remote work and longing for a role where I could serve people, be in-person, and make a meaningful contribution. I applied for a hospital chaplain role at a small hospital and was selected. As a chaplain, we can offer a non-anxious presence in the middle of a crisis, meet others with unconditional positive regard, and attend to the various religious, spiritual, and emotional needs of patients and their families.
As I spoke with a mentor and friend recently, he said, “You know, AJ, it sounds like you are living in the middle of your calling.” Honestly, I had not thought much about calling as it related to this job (Ironic, given I have a whole blog dedicated to calling). It just looked like an opportunity to contribute to our family income, provide care to our local community, and have the opportunity to grow in my pastoral development.
A professor of mine once said that the goal of Christianity is disillusionment. To put it in the positive, the purpose of the Christian faith is to demystify our teachings and to live deeply rooted in the power and presence of God’s love.
The thing about the biblical narrative is that only one person got a burning bush to invite them into an adventure with God. As far as I am aware, only one person was plagued like Job, and only one was vomited out by a fish.
I hope you find encouragement today in the simplicity of calling. That who you are becoming is nurtured by your environment and that you are supported in your pursuit of being a source of hope to others around you.
If you are curious about some of my experiences as a chaplain or want to get involved with a community of people navigating life together, I invite you to check out some of the offerings at the Center for Dignity. There are classes, book clubs, and a group message for those who are longing for a community centered around dignity.
I hope this is it when it comes to moving and significant transitions. We’ve had a lot of them. Over the coming weeks and months, I’ll be wrapping up my dissertation and graduating, starting up Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and developing self-paced and live classes based on over a decade of learning and teaching in the Old Testament. I hope to see you there soon.
View open classes HERE