The Fourth Holy Night ~ The Gift of Ministry

DECEMBER 28, 2011

I’m struggling with this one a bit…
OK… a lot…
So I’m going to ask myself some questions, based on the questions that Lynn Jericho has posed on her blog for this fourth night…
1) What is my ministry?
2) What is my purpose in life?
3) Do questions 1 & 2 have anything in common?
4) Am I able to receive ministering?
5) What do I now see?

- 1)   **What is my ministry?** I’m not a minister. I’m a doctor. Not the medical kind, but the psychological kind. I’m interested in the psyche, the study of the soul. I do however; love to talk to people, individuals or large groups and share my stories and my findings…
- 2)   **What is my purpose in life?** To write, to research, to teach. To help others uncover and understand their own particular language of the soul. To assist others in understanding what is not understandable, especially in the realm of loss, grief, and the dark folds of the heart. To see beauty and enjoy every possible minute that I can, for as long as I am here, in the most mundane of tasks… to love…
- 3)    **Do questions 1 & 2 have anything in common?** Yes, although I haven’t yet owned that I might be a minister… I do tend to others... yes, I minister to others... I care deeply about my friends and family, my cyber friends and family, my surrounding community, and this incredibly beautiful planet. I feel that I am a deeply spiritual person, but there is no where or place that I fit in the norm of our culture and what it means to be spiritual. My work is my life, my heart, and a joy to breathe in each and every day.
- 4)   **Am I able to receive ministering?** Oh yes. And more and more as I heal from the deep loss of this past year. Every day when I go on walks with my dogs, I wrap my neck, hands, and feet in the soft jewels that my dear friend Kimberly has knitted for me… My coat, a gift from my parents, like a hug… my Thursday night dinners with the dearest of friends and my faerie god-daughters… the assistance of my office manager, Nancy, for if it wasn’t for her help… I haven’t a clue of how I would have made it through this last year… which also includes my work team, Joyce, Em, & Orin... My Keram pack… my cyber friends… and many others who in just their reaching out to me, has allowed me to be here now.
- 5)   **What do I now see?** Even despite my initial quarrel with semantics… I do minister and receive ministering… I do have a calling, a purpose, and a reason for being here... And, I am ever unfolding... discovering this again and again...

How about you?
This post was inspired by [Lynn Jericho's Eighth Year of Inner Christmas ~The Twelve Gifts](http://www.innerchristmasmessages.com/2011/12/28/the-fourth-holy-night-the-gift-of-ministering). This is my offering for the fourth gift ~ the gift of ministering.