“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in.” Robert Frost in The Death of the Hired Man
It is good to be home. But, wait a minute, Steve; you are home. I know, St. Dunstan’s has been my spiritual home for the last fourteen years. But this seems different, like I am home, but in a new and exciting way.
When Fr. Roman first approached me about the possibility of becoming Associate Rector at St. Dunstan’s, I had already been toying with the idea of retirement from the hospital. The two of us discussed it over lunch (TexMex, of course) and agreed to pray for discernment and talk again later.
Retirement is different than it used to be. Our parents and grandparents worked for forty or so years, usually for the same employer, got a gold watch when they retired, and died a few years later because work they no longer did had been their life. My father was different. He worked for thirty years at a job he hated (He was an accountant). When his company offered him an early retirement buy out, he jumped at the chance and left without looking back. Yes, they even gave him a gold watch. He would often say through the years that retirement was when he really started to live. And live he did, to the age of ninety four.
Bonnie and I talked and prayed about Fr. Roman’s proposal over the next few weeks. She pointed out that most of the retired people we knew were busier now than when they were working full time. Most of their busyness was in spending more time with family and doing meaningful things that gave them great joy and fulfillment. We both knew that in retirement I would have to be doing something other than sitting in a boat on a lake fishing and drinking beer. Can you picture that? I can’t either. I wanted my retirement to be more like my father’s.
All of the various pieces began to fall perfectly in place, and we realized that this was God’s plan for us. Both the Vestry of St. Dunstan’s and the Diocese of Texas gave their approval, and I signed a Letter of Agreement to be the part time Associate Rector, primarily for pastoral care. Don’t worry, Jerre, I am not taking your job.
As I mentioned, it has been fourteen years since I left parish ministry, and it feels good to be back—to be home—with you, the good people of St. Dunstan’s. Maybe that is how ministry is supposed to work; live with and learn to love the people before becoming a minister to them. My role may be a little different, but one thing is not and that is my love for you and this church. I am thrilled, honored, and humbled to be one of your priests and to continue to serve with you. There is one thing I would ask of you, though. Please don’t call me a shepherd. There is only one Shepherd, and we all belong to him. See me more as a sheep dog, i.e., one whose task is to guide and guard the flock. I pledge to do my best to do that for you. That being said, please remember that Fr. Roman is the head sheep dog!
Blessings,
Steve+
