Parallel Lives

Not that I am not happy with the life I am currently living, because I have always felt like I am walking down yellow brick road and will one day meet the Wizard with this current life that I am leading (or in minister speak, I feel I am leading the life to which I am called).....but sometimes I read something or see something that stirs in me a deep hope that reincarnation is the way things work out, because I think it would be so fun to be and do so many different things. More things than one life allows time for. (especially considering we're not promised tomorrow!) Today it was an email newsletter from Ring Lake Ranch.

Here's a list of some parallel lives I'd like to lead. If this looks like a meme to you, go'n ahead and consider yourself tagged and track back because I'd be interested to see what kind of things you'd like to do too.

1. Suppose I'll start with the life I almost led if it hadn't been for the call into ministry: I would have attended either UNC or UVA for a post graduate degree (or perhaps both) and gotten a Ph.D in Buddhism (Tibetan, though Zen is what I have learned most about from my undergrad prof. McDaniel--b/c I think I remember there being a big pro in the field at UVA) or American Religion if at UNC--just like another of my prof's, Dr. Jane Harris. Then, of course, I would have been employed at Hendrix College. One of my friends from college, Brad, actually did get his post-grad degree in Tibetan Buddhism at U of Chicago and studied in Tibet as well. I saw him at a friend's wedding in South Carolina a year ago, and he seemed very happy with his life (though he seemed somewhat disenchanted with being in school for so long.) I think he was going to go work in a museum. That sounds good.

2. If I'd followed my high school dreams for life, I'd have gone into the field of archaeology or perhaps paleontology. I just had a fantasy the other day that I had pursued this goal and had made my mark on the field by developing a computerized "virtual catalogue" of footprints and bones that could be used to connect missing links.

3. It would be great to work at Ring Lake Ranch mixing the design of workshops on spirituality with the care of horses, fishing, the mountains, hiking, etc.

4. I study architecture and apprentice myself to Frank Gehry or Fay Jones. I love organic architecture.

5. I would be an illuminator for the St. John's Bible.

6. I would be a journalist.

7. I would be a commentator for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team.

8. I would be my cat, Lao-Tzu. (At the moment, she seems quite interested in my coffee)

9. I would be a competitive scrabble tournament geek.

10. I suppose I could have continued on as the program coordinator at Occidental College Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. I had a great boss/collaborator, and it was a fantastic thing to encourage the spiritual development of intelligent college kids at America's most diverse college. It was also cool to have a huge grant to work with.

11. I would be a parrot-head, surf all day, and live on Na pali Coast.

There's more, but now that I've gotten that out of my system, time to get on the sermon.

Hmmm. I get to plumb the depths of sacred writings and weave that together with life and lives in order to inspire some words that I stand up and give to a congregation of people who consider that something that is part of the worship of God. I get to break bread and lift up a cup of juice and acknowledge the real presence of Christ in those things, and then I get to place that bread in people's hands with the words "brother/sister, the bread of life." Even though I'm not worthy of the comparison, I get to represent Christ to people who are about to die, about to give birth, and about to awaken. I get to cultivate an awareness of the undercurrents of Reality for a living.

This life is pretty cool, too.

Okay, now I'm ready to write a sermon.