From paper to possibility

So, I preached the sermon I posted yesterday today. I wasn't sure I would, but on the way there (having brought the text) I decided.

One good thing about being a priest in 3 churches that are all 20 minutes and more away is you get time to think on Sunday morning!

There were less than 20 people there and at least half of them thanked me for the sermon--above average--and several of the thanks involved hugs....

I never intended to be an Episcopal priest--not by a long shot. And I've often thought over the years that 'if I had it to do again' I'd do what I intended, gotten a Ph.D. in American Literature and taught in some small, private college and written the Great American Novel.

But when half the people who hear a sermon thank you for it--five with hugs and one saying, "you gave me back my faith"--then I know why I do this.

And, given another chance, I would love to take another path, have a different career, on days like today I realize that maybe, just maybe, this is what I was 'meant' to do in some way larger than myself.

I'm not sure. But it felt like that today. I didn't move the multitudes, but I was told I gave someone 'back their faith". What matters as much as that?

I wish I had that Nobel Prize for Literature though....