Last night I had a dream in which I was standing in the pulpit, delivering a sermon that I believed with all my heart. There’s no feeling in the world that comes close to what it feels like to do something that brings you joy. The feeling of following your calling is as close to bliss as I believe a human being can get. Even after nine months, I still dream about preaching.
I thought it would go away, but in these dreams I can still experience what it feels like to be some kind of conduit through which God ideas become human words. I can’t really explain it very well. It’s just a feeling that I deeply, deeply miss.
These dreams have caused me to think about the kinds of gifts and talents that have to be lived out in specific contexts and circumstances in order to make any sense. For example, a boxer who never has the opportunity to use his skill in the proper context – the boxing ring – is really just a guy who goes around punching people in the face.
My fear is that a preacher who never uses his or her gifts in the proper venue just becomes an outspoken, opinionated, know-it-all that no one really wants to be around.
I feel stuck. I have a gift I can’t use that won’t leave me alone. So, I started thinking outside the box. The closest I can come to a preacher who isn’t really a preacher is Barack Obama.
When he says things like, “Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential,” or “We are the change we have been waiting for,” I am challenged and moved in a way that only a really good sermon can change me.
Maybe my future is in politics.
You can stop laughing now. . .
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