OK, I’m a Franciscan; non-traditional, but a Franciscan none the less. Although I like my gadgets, I try to live a simple lifestyle, not being concerned about my status, what I wear, etc. As a matter of fact I have only a couple sets of dress clothes which I mix and match, and a couple hoodies that I wear with my Tau cross.
However here’s the kicker…there will be 1 or possibly 2 of us who will lose our jobs at Annunciation. I guess there is no one who is safe in this economy, not even in the church.
Perhaps I’m paying off some kind of karmic debt. This isn’t the first time this situation has happened to me in my life. Actually it’s happened at almost every place I’ve worked, with the exception of St. Patrick’s. If one believes in past lives perhaps I was an obnoxious boss who didn’t care about his/her workers. Or maybe I worked for the church and actually enjoyed being treated well. The possibilities are endless!
Now, with regard to my Franciscan ideals, but I just don’t want to go through the whole process again. I’m starting to feel more at ease about having to find a new job, but I have just a little anxiety of not knowing how this will all turn out . I always end up finding something, and it is usually a good move for me.
One of my favorite passages is from Matthew 6, very Franciscan in nature:
Do Not Worry
25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31"Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or "What shall we wear?' 32For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
I sure love this…do not worry about these things but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…This is how I try to live my life. Sometimes it is easier than other times, but it goes back to what I said yesterday: When I feel like I am not free and God isn’t listening to me, it is at this point—a point in the heart—that I try to make a clear choice for God.
I think that perhaps you are "getting" only some of it....has it occurred to you that you move from one position/church to another not because of the economy or a situation that needs to end...but rather, because YOU are needed someplace else? Not due to karmic past life foibles, but of a current life lesson to be learned, absorbed and shared? Perhaps the work that you are doing right now, is done, and you are needed elsewhere...it's not starting all over again, it's starting new, with new skills and knowledge to pass on....it's a good thing....promise!
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