Return to work.

Well, I went back to work/church today. It was a nice time. I started the day off with Eucharist. Junior Female Pastor prayed over me. I then wandered around the city and ran some errands. When I got back to work/church, I sat in with Junior Male Pastor (JMP) and talked. Now, JMP and I have become pretty close. It is weird to discover that someone that you look up to as a mentor looks up to you too. JMP and I had a long conversation about my recent adventures. Turns out, he was pretty shook up about the whole thing. Of course, the entire staff was, but JMP and I worked together the closest and spent the most time together. He has spent quite a bit of time pastoring sick folk. So, when lovely wife Mo told him how sick I'd gotten, he began to fear the worst. Turns out, that every time my name was mentioned in the staff meetings, everyone sort of held their breath, anticipating the worst. JMP talked to me about how simply surviving such an ordeal was a ministry to him. He told me I was his hero. He talked to me about how he saw such great faith in me; it took great faith to fight the illness. So often, he'd see people who would ask "Pastor, why doesn't God just take me to him? Why does he keep me here?" He told me how it took great faith on my part to fight to come back. Maybe someday I'll understand that comment. I kinda do, but I think I need to sit with it for a while.

So, after lunch, it was time for the noon service. Senior Pastor talked about his vacation; he and his wife went on a cruise to Alaska! Now, to be fair, this was his first vacation in over three years and it also was their 40th anniversary. So, don't start with the "Never trust a pastor with more than two suits" rhetoric. Anyway, after that we went into his office and talked about the ordination process. I won't bore you with the details, but I have a TON of work to do! But the conversation drifted a bit and I told him the story about the healing service in my hospital room. We started discussing it. We also talked about prayer. He asked" what exactly is it that happens?" "How does it work?" Part of me wishes I knew. Another part is glad it remains a holy mystery. Perhaps that's a cop out. If it is, too bad. I'm tired. I had a busy day at church/work today!