Confessions of an Unemployed
Minister - Part Seven: Reading with a Friend
Another gift that came to me right at the beginning of my
employment transition was the renewal of an old friendship. On the very last
day of my thirty-year long ministry job, as I was on one of my ten thousand
step journeys, listening to a podcast, my phone rang. I was surprised to see
the caller ID was the name of this old friend whom I had not spoken to in
years. He asked, “Are you OK?” I told him I was in an odd place of stunned grief
and transition. He told me he had suddenly been thinking of me and felt
prompted to call and see how I was.
I shared my transition story with him. He then shared some parts
of his own recent story. He was also facing experiences of sorrow and hurt. He
said he had just purchased a book by Timothy Keller called, “Walking With God
Through Pain and Suffering”. He suggested I get a copy and that we read it
together.
When I got my copy, we began meeting over Skype and discussing one
chapter at a time about every three weeks or so. We connect through our
computers for about an hour late at night. Sometimes we talk about the book.
Sometimes we stray into topics that irrupt spontaneously. We laugh. We cry. We
share our lives; our family stories, our mid-life hopes and losses; our pain
and suffering.
These conversations are a wonderful cathartic part of my passage
from where I was to where I am going. I am grateful for the layers of grace I
see; old friends who are understanding and accepting in times of vulnerability,
good books by wise teachers that lead one into greater understanding and faith,
magical technology that connects one with people who were far away but are now
made closer. The partnership of sojourners is a vital part of the success of any passage.
