Luck of the draw

I am not a poker player so I can't vouch for being successful or lucky at drawing the right cards.  But I have learned that I have to figure out how to play the cards that I am dealt along the way whether they are in my family deck or in my business world deck or my social deck.   Sometimes I play them well and sometimes I could have done a better job of reading the signs of my partners.   Sometimes I have to just throw the cards on the table and admit what a lousy player I am.   It is usually not my finest hour.  I like to be successful in all things.

Learning to be a minister of presence takes the same kind of attitude adjusting.  Yesterday I went to a social event with my former boss and he was regaling people with stories about how I made him go with me to see donors and go to funerals, etc when we worked in the development area together.   Finally, he stopped and looked straight at me, and said, "Did I ever thank you for your persistance?   I would never have gone anywhere if I hadn't been able to latch on to your coat tails and mutter something after you said the real words!"    He added, "Now I go in to hospital rooms, funeral homes, everywhere and other people are latching on to my coat tails, muttering stuff."

Much of being a minister of presence is learned.   The art and act of caring is learned.  It helps to have a sensitivity for another person and a situation.  But the words, themselves, have to gradually become more than mutterings.   And the situation and the individual have to be learned by a constancy of presence.   Not everything works in every situation.  But the truth is, that sometimes when we are ready to throw in the cards,  God gives us a sign, unmistakable to the minister, that something in the game is working.  And it is more than enough;  it is an inner jubilation!   It keeps us keeping on!    

Blessings on the ones who have staying (and playing) power!