Often I am asked what I do. It’s a fair question. And I know there are very standard answers that I could give that would satisfy the question and end the conversation. No doubt these standard answers are accurate. For example, one part answer to the question, what do I do, is to answer by saying that I am a teacher. If I want a puffed-up answer, I can say I am a college professor. Usually this makes those of us who use this answer feel a little bigger---maybe even superior to “other teachers.” No doubt, that is unfortunate. I still am sure teaching kindergarten or the early grades---or even middle school---is much more difficult and energy-draining. Compared to that, my job is a piece of cake!
If I simply say I am a college professor that answers the question and, probably, leaves all too many assumptions in the mind of the person who asked the question. Such assumptions might be that I am really smart. Only smart people can be college professors. I am sufficiently bright enough to do the job, but not all college people are brains and, certainly, there are a ton of smart people who are not college professors. Some smart people may not have even gone to college!
A much more distinctive answer I sometimes have used when asked the question, what do I do, is to say that I am in ministry. And presently that ministry is a teaching ministry. That is surely a good way for a Quaker to put it. It gives me the chance to say that my primary calling is to ministry and, indeed, currently it is a teaching ministry. I have done pastoral ministry and some hospital ministry.
To me this is a good answer because it allows for a very broad range of answers. And it suggests to other folks they might consider how what they do can be a form of ministry. This is how Quakers liked to describe the calling that all humans receive from a God who wants to be involved in all sorts of ways of making a living. This also resonates with the broader Protestant sense of God’s call and how call links to vocation (vocatio in Latin). In terms of the original meaning of the word, vocation, it would indicate a “calling.” Obviously, that meaning has changed when we use it in our secular world. When we talk about “vocational schools,” we mean something quite different than what Luther and other sixteenth century Reformers meant.
So I am a college professor and I do have a sense of being involved in a teaching ministry. Both are true and ones I have used for a long time. They are sufficiently descriptive and typically satisfy the question about what I do. However, I wonder if they are merely answers to a question that should be posed in a different way. Specifically, the real question probably is not what I do. The real question is what is the result of what I do. If I am a professor or one involved in ministry, what is the effect---result---of my work?
To ask the question in this way shifts the focus. It shifts the focus from me to the other---the student and learner. This is a good shift, because if a student does not learn, I have not been a professor. And if the learner does not experience being served, then I am not really involved in ministry. Doing should not be separated from results.
So the answer I like to give to the question, what do I do, is to say that I encourage growth. Of course, this is a general answer. But I think it needs to be general. Sometimes growth is the acquisition of knowledge. Just as often, the kind of desired growth is emotional and or spiritual. In fact, I think a good deal of what I do is help students grow up! We all have a sense of what emotional maturity looks like. And most of us can be honest and admit that a high school education was not sufficient to make us emotionally mature.
I would argue the same thing is true for spiritual maturity. Actually, it might be hard for a group of folks to agree on what spiritual maturity would look like. Let me offer my own take on that. A spiritually mature person is a person who knows his or her deeper self---what Merton meant by the true self. And mature people live from that deeper center. This gives the mature one the ability to be humble, confident and open. She is not threatened by diversity. He is capable of wide-spread care of all sorts of folks.
And an emotionally and spiritually mature person is a cultivator of community. She normally can transform chaos into something a bit more creative. He is one who knows how to dispense grace in such a way that peace is more possible. And she can mediate mercy so that continued hurting is minimized.
Growing up is not automatic and certainly not guaranteed. To manage this kind of growth usually requires some mentoring and modelling. That is what I hope to be able to do. To do it effectively means that we also need to be on our own journey of growing up. That’s why I still need my models and mentors. They can be classic figures, like Jesus and the Buddha. They might be college professors. They certainly are all sages of the Spirit. And they are willing to share their wisdom.
That is what I am trying to do.
If I simply say I am a college professor that answers the question and, probably, leaves all too many assumptions in the mind of the person who asked the question. Such assumptions might be that I am really smart. Only smart people can be college professors. I am sufficiently bright enough to do the job, but not all college people are brains and, certainly, there are a ton of smart people who are not college professors. Some smart people may not have even gone to college!
A much more distinctive answer I sometimes have used when asked the question, what do I do, is to say that I am in ministry. And presently that ministry is a teaching ministry. That is surely a good way for a Quaker to put it. It gives me the chance to say that my primary calling is to ministry and, indeed, currently it is a teaching ministry. I have done pastoral ministry and some hospital ministry.
To me this is a good answer because it allows for a very broad range of answers. And it suggests to other folks they might consider how what they do can be a form of ministry. This is how Quakers liked to describe the calling that all humans receive from a God who wants to be involved in all sorts of ways of making a living. This also resonates with the broader Protestant sense of God’s call and how call links to vocation (vocatio in Latin). In terms of the original meaning of the word, vocation, it would indicate a “calling.” Obviously, that meaning has changed when we use it in our secular world. When we talk about “vocational schools,” we mean something quite different than what Luther and other sixteenth century Reformers meant.
So I am a college professor and I do have a sense of being involved in a teaching ministry. Both are true and ones I have used for a long time. They are sufficiently descriptive and typically satisfy the question about what I do. However, I wonder if they are merely answers to a question that should be posed in a different way. Specifically, the real question probably is not what I do. The real question is what is the result of what I do. If I am a professor or one involved in ministry, what is the effect---result---of my work?
To ask the question in this way shifts the focus. It shifts the focus from me to the other---the student and learner. This is a good shift, because if a student does not learn, I have not been a professor. And if the learner does not experience being served, then I am not really involved in ministry. Doing should not be separated from results.
So the answer I like to give to the question, what do I do, is to say that I encourage growth. Of course, this is a general answer. But I think it needs to be general. Sometimes growth is the acquisition of knowledge. Just as often, the kind of desired growth is emotional and or spiritual. In fact, I think a good deal of what I do is help students grow up! We all have a sense of what emotional maturity looks like. And most of us can be honest and admit that a high school education was not sufficient to make us emotionally mature.
I would argue the same thing is true for spiritual maturity. Actually, it might be hard for a group of folks to agree on what spiritual maturity would look like. Let me offer my own take on that. A spiritually mature person is a person who knows his or her deeper self---what Merton meant by the true self. And mature people live from that deeper center. This gives the mature one the ability to be humble, confident and open. She is not threatened by diversity. He is capable of wide-spread care of all sorts of folks.
And an emotionally and spiritually mature person is a cultivator of community. She normally can transform chaos into something a bit more creative. He is one who knows how to dispense grace in such a way that peace is more possible. And she can mediate mercy so that continued hurting is minimized.
Growing up is not automatic and certainly not guaranteed. To manage this kind of growth usually requires some mentoring and modelling. That is what I hope to be able to do. To do it effectively means that we also need to be on our own journey of growing up. That’s why I still need my models and mentors. They can be classic figures, like Jesus and the Buddha. They might be college professors. They certainly are all sages of the Spirit. And they are willing to share their wisdom.
That is what I am trying to do.
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