Pastoral Theology & Reverend John Ames
In the opening pages of her award-winning novel Gilead, Marilynne Robinson paints the portrait of her main character, Reverend John Ames, by relaying his inner thoughts about ministry, death, and laughter.
When they [two fellows laughing on the street] saw me coming, of course the joking stopped, but I could see they were still laughing to themselves, thinking what the old preacher almost heard them say.
I felt like telling them, I appreciate a joke as much as anybody. There have been many occasions in my life when I have wanted to say that. But it's not a thing people are willing to accept. They want you to be a little bit apart. I felt like saying, I'm a dying man, and I won't have so many more occasions to laugh, in this world at least. But that would just make them serious and polite, I suppose....
That's the strangest thing about this life, about being in the ministry. People change the subject when they see you coming. And then sometimes those very same people come into your study and tell you the most remarkable things. There's a lot under the surface of life, everyone knows that. A lot of malice and dread and guilt, and so much loneliness, where you wouldn't really expect to find it, either.
Reverend Ames's words frame at least two truths about pastoral ministry.
First, people see pastors as a different sort of person.
"But it's not a thing people are willing to accept."
"They want you to be a little bit apart."
"People change the subject when they see you coming."
Perhaps the pastor's vocational connection to the Holy or a desire to believe in the goodness of humanity drives our expectations of ministers. Their integral humanity is often not fully given credence.
Second, people share deep truths with their pastors.
"And then sometimes those very same people come into your study and tell you the most remarkable things."
It is the pastoral dance of distance and intimacy. Ministers are not like us, yet they provide incredible spaces for vulnerability.
And it surely mirrors people's own relationship with God.
A Benediction (Or Miscellaneous Thoughts)
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