(This post is especially for my ordained friends.)
I have been doing a lot of stocktaking. Attempting to declutter, sort out and retain things, I have been opening-up once upon a time taped boxes after successive moves. I came upon my ordination bulletin and paper. On January 19, 1975, I was ordained by my home church, First Baptist, Boston.
Today, I take homage to what happened on that day 46 years ago. Simply, ordination meant that I was “set aside,” recognized by church leaders and conferred holy orders by those who have been ordained themselves. It is believed that the “laying on of hands” originated from when Jesus laid his hands upon Peter and proclaimed that here is the rock on which the church is built.
Forty-six years ago, when I was ordained, in the presence of my mother, nieces, nephews, cousins, childhood friends and Sunday school teachers, I now wonder what was going through their minds. What did it mean for them that I was now certified to use the honorific title, “Rev.” before my name? “He was only Uncle Donald or Cousin Donald or little Donald or just son before.
As I continue to take stock on who I am as ordained and to whom I belong, I have these simple thoughts:
1. I’m asked to pray over meals most of the time.
2. I get to solemnize a marriage.
3. I don’t ask for a clergy discount.
4. I get to enter the ICU as a pastor (Before Covid-19).
5. I try not to swear unless I stub my toe.
6. I get to say, “God bless” without pretensions.
7. I get to say, “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
8. Sometimes, I get to wear a robe and a stole.
9. Sometimes when I am behind the pulpit, I find myself stuttering.
10. I see the extraordinary in the ordinary.
In-retrospect, none of the above are exclusively set aside for the ordained. Especially as Baptists, we believe in the “priesthood of all believers.” But what I have come to realize is that we can all see the extraordinary in the ordinary because God is real, living and acting in our lives today.
The power of God is in the food we eat, in the love of marriage, in humility, in healing, in blessings, in saying farewell, in leading worship and sharing the Lord’s Supper, in rituals like baptism, in tongue-tied preaching, and in affirming what one might say is just coincidence is truly a God thing.
After more than 46 years, I am still seeing God, the Creator, the Savior, and the Comforter every day.