aside: especially for pastors at reverendmother

aside: especially for pastors

Published by reverendmother 1 year, 3 months ago

“Those in a ‘nurturing’ profession must know that they cannot be all things to all people… One of my college professors reminded us that there are only three emergencies in life: a heart attack, profuse bleeding, and a threat of suicide. All other concerns can wait until the next day. She also reminded us that people are usually more resourceful than we think. We are not indispensable.” —Patricia Robinson

8 Responses to “aside: especially for pastors”

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1 ppb Oct 9th, 2007 at 3:15 pm

Wait? planning the cookies for after church isn’t an emergency?
2 anne Oct 9th, 2007 at 3:33 pm

i had a friend who was a jewelry maker. he said folks were always coming to him late w/ outrageous requests for him to finish jewelry for “occasions.” his reply was always, “there’s no such thing as a jewelry emergency.”

later when i wrote poems for $$$ i adopted his philosophy and told folks there was “no such thing as a poetry emergency.”
3 sherry Oct 10th, 2007 at 9:25 am

Unfortunately, all three of those pop up every single week in mine and my husband’s job…..and always when one of our children HAS to be somewhere. How many times can a kid hear, “you are not the emergency?”
4 NotShyChiRev Oct 10th, 2007 at 10:21 am

There’s a part of me that agrees with this wholeheartedly, and then there’s the part that knows that when the dear septuagenarian calls and says she’s having angioplasty tomorrow and can I come to the hospital to be with her and her stoic but terrified husband…though there is no actual heart attack, no profuse bleeding and no threat of suicide….she needs me to be there. She wouldn’t have asked if she didn’t.

That of course is to be countered by the total NON-emergency that is the need to post the name of the potential nominee for moderator elect of the Presbytery 2 full months before that person is elected. THAT is NOT an emergency, no matter how many Presbyterians say it is.
5 reverendmother Oct 10th, 2007 at 11:11 am

NSCR, I think you have highlighted a distinction between important and emergency. Certainly we respond to important things as best we can! We don’t say, “Sorry, I only respond to emergencies.”

This Saturday is Queen She-who-is Day. Poor little C is showing signs of feeling hassled, managed. Always having to be somewhere, hurry up, help her sister, wait until later. (OK, she’s also showing signs of being 4 1/2.)

We have had it on the schedule all week. She will get to choose what we do all day.

Meanwhile Senior Pastor will be out of town. Nonetheless, it will take an emergency to tear me away from Queen She-who-is day. Important things will have to wait until Sunday.

Sherry, all this is easy for me to say when I’m not the one actually treating the heart attack or stopping the profuse bleeding.
6 Songbird Oct 14th, 2007 at 1:55 pm

What about fire? That was always on the list of emergencies I gave to my children!
7 spookyrach Oct 17th, 2007 at 9:40 am

Oh, lord. Thanks for the “not indispensible” part. I reallllyyyyy needed that.

1 i wrenched my back at reverendmother Pingback on Oct 14th, 2007 at 11:21 am

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Asides

» “If you like art, and you try it, you can’t stop doing it.” –little she-who-is # 0

» Hanukkah begins this Sunday. Enjoy the best comedy piece on the Festival of Lights since Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah song. # 1

» So….. offering envelopes. Still useful and worth the expense to churches, or hopelessly square and terribly 20th century? # 19