Today, I forwarded an ordination paper or a spiritual autobiography to a church in Charlotte who, to my surprise, would like to ordain me to the ministry. Some of my running friends have wanted to know what it means to be ordained. Whatever I say, never seems to satisfy their curiosity. Here is what I know. Ordination publicly recognizes and confirms that an individual has been called by God to ministry. It acknowledges that the individual has gone through a period of discernment and training related to this call. Ordination authorizes that individual to take on the office of ministry and to perform baptisms, marriages, and preside at The Lord's Supper. All of this is by faith and understood to come by the power of the Holy Spirit usually witnessed in the laying on of hands at some point during the ordination service.
In my spiritual autobiography, I wrote many things, ten pages worth, but here is one excerpt about running and writing:
I believe in starting projects everyday, like running and writing. I start them, and then put them away, when we begin to fight with one another. It might be a sore knee, or a cluttered thought, but I will know when the fight has begun. I walk or turn away and begin the journey tomorrow. The essential is to begin the projects everyday. The days that they work, and juices start flowing, I will barely stop or take breaks. But here is the kicker, the days that I never start, do not even have a chance of being great runs or whole chapters to a book.
If you are in the business of prayer, and more of you are than you would like to let on, please pray for my ordination that it be to the glory of God.
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