Right around the time of my great digital outrage about Baltimore and the myriad of social ills that plague us, I got two new friend requests... Parishioners at my new congregation (remember that rich congregation I was telling you about?!) I waited a day to accept either friend request, they are the first of their kind and I didn't rush to accept them in order to process this momentous change from my facebook page being primarily a place where my friends and acquaintances peaked into my life, to a place where parishioners would encounter their future clergy person. Yeah.... there was a lot of trepidation, but I knew there was no other way around it, I would have to accept their friend request or be seriously rude. So I clicked the accept button and officially kissed my old facebook self good bye. I knew conceptually that that person was already gone and my page already reflected that, but this time it felt more significant, more final become of my upcoming job and ordination.
The timing has also made this friend acceptance a little more dramatic. I still have status updates about Baltimore that some would find controversial, but honestly, they are for me non-negotiable. To delete them would make me hate myself.
To be true to myself and still be pastoral, that is the challenge. (Shocker, I'm not always the most pastoral person, plus I'm new to this!) It occurred to me that if I was going to potentially be inflamatory, I should also be conciliatory with an eye toward being pastoral and sensitive to those who disagree with me. I didn't want to water down my message, but I knew I needed to make a gesture that said I am open for dialogue and point back to the power of God in all this. To that end I went to our Book of Common Prayer - the "place" where we all meet and gather round. I knew there was a relatively simple thing to do that would make the point I was keen to make - share one of our collects on my page, and that is exactly what I did. I shared the Collect for Social Justice which was totally fitting and reflected an authentic prayer for our situation.
That this was a wise action to take was soon made apparent as both of my parishioner facebook friends liked this post! As much as I would like to think of myself as a renegade who doesn't care what people think of me, I have to admit that I was relieved that they liked this post. It suggested to me that there is a way forward where I can still share my opinions (for the most part) and still find common ground with the people I am called to serve at this time and place. In all this I realized that I am not called to be right, I am called to be outspoken about what is right, but that is different. In all things the point is to share a message in a way that can be heard. That's the whole point of this course this semester! No one can hear a message if they are resentful or forced to feel guilty, and so it is my job to remember to speak in a way people can listen and learn. Now to remember this lesson for the rest of my career. Oh man, Jesus take the wheel!
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