My Entire Theology is here:

Tonight a posting over at a new blog called "New Road Seeker" that I have been following lately, offered a brief quotation from the words of this hymn ...

I can't remember exactly when I first heard this hymn, but its words resonated deeply within me. The words speak the call of Ministry I long ago answered and have struggled to follow to this day.

The line - "I will hold your people in my heart" speaks deeply of how I live my life in ministry ... it's not about power and prestige, it's not about politicking and posturing ... my ministry is actualized in those moments when my life is touched by those seeking something ... and together we are able to stumble forward through the darkness to a new dawn of understanding ...

Everything - absolutely everything I've been about in ministry, even in the darkest moments when I've stumbled and made bad choices, has been undergirded by the understanding of ministry as expressed in this song ... I responded to the call of Word, Sacrament, and Pastoral Care ... and I live that calling out not by trying to please the powers and principalities, but by loving the people through the honour of serving them day in and day out where they are ...

I remain the frail and vulnerable human being that I have always been, and I will not apologize for that, nor will I try to justify my self ... as the hymn says - "Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart." I will serve them AS I AM, not as they want me to be ...

It's THAT simple ...