Oh this pastoral life...
There are two really common misconceptions out there about the life of a pastor.
1. This is a really, really, really hard job, full of stress... it chews people up and spits them out and you have to be crazy or called to even think about doing it.
or
2. This is a really, really, really easy job- what a bunch of lazy bums living off the dime of their community.
I guess what I'm thinking this morning is that in addition to being a calling, this is a job. Sometimes it has long hours and a lot of stress, sometimes it's a joy to do and things just hum along. Ebb and flow... Kind of like everyone else's job/work. It has its good points and it has its tough parts.
Yesterday was a 14 hour day for me... I don't have a ton of those, but man. I switched my day off from Monday to Friday, so I hit it hard on Monday morning, got a lot of stuff done at the beginning of the week which felt great. Tuesday was a little less productive but still a full day topped off with a Community Dinner in the evening to celebrate Fat Tuesday. Wednesday is my early day, so a 7am appointment followed by a full day of work and an Ash Wednesday service in the evening...
And back at it with an 8am meeting today.
I'm not complaining by any stretch. I love what I do, and I think it's possible to be either a crazy workaholic fool or a lazy freeloader as a pastor. I don't want to do either...
But balance is that most ephemeral of states, isn't it?
And I'm really wondering after years of having days off that came days apart... will I be able to spool down for a whole Friday/Saturday combo?
Stay tuned... :)
