Few things bring greater joy to me than being with long-time colleagues and friends in pastoral ministry--ordinary, humble, and loving servants who have faithfully served God's people, often in little known places and--save for the Lord's awareness--little known ways.The picture above was taken some years ago now at our annual CRIM (Covenanters Retired in Ministry) Retreat at Covenant Pines in McGregor, Minnesota. Just after Labor day every year we gather to study, worship, pray, tell stories, and fellowship at table. The fare is incredibly rich. One or two share their life story with us. Crafts also are shared. And one evening of music involves us all in hymn-singing, choral music, and listening to vocal and instrumental soloists. It ends, as it should each time we gather, with Holy Communion at the Lord's table.
I came upon the picture a day or two ago, just after reading our superintendent's notes on a meeting he and other superintendents had recently with Eugene Peterson, whose life work has centered on ministering to the likes of us. Ponder with me some of the things Jim Freitheim took as quotes from Peterson's presentations, and as you do thank God with me for the whole company of those who have pastored and shepherded you through life:
* We are poets, we live with people who fight demons and are thrown into the lion's den on a regular basis.
* The work of the poet is to get you to participate.
* It is a privilege to be a pastor.
* One of the first things we should ask our leaders, "How is your prayer life?"
* You can't keep the sabbath by yourself.
* There are two words in our culture that people respond to: "Help me!"
* Pastors need to develop a hermeneutic of Scripture through which all of Scripture must be treated.
* People in our churches don't need advice. They need a pastor.
God bless all those above who have answered God's call. And bless too the many coming after us who are answering it still, day by day and year after year.
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