Claiming Authority

For the UU Carnival...

I've never claimed to be a poet. But there's something about CPE... When I tried to write about authority - here's what emerged. For the record, "They" are not any official denominational committee, board, or body.

Claiming My Authority

They said:

“You need
To claim your own authority,
To live into your ministry,
To be a ministerial presence.”

To which I said,
“Huh? What is this authority?”
---
There was one minister to whom
I wholeheartedly granted something like
Authority.

Was it authority over me?
No – he was not like the ministers
I once knew,
Who would never listen to a
Woman In Church.
Not even if she was ordained.
Which she would never be –
That’s not God’s will.
(How could they know? I always wondered.)

Was it authority over the congregation?
Not really –
Complicated polity and by-laws
Tend to limit ministerial “power.”

It was authority that he quietly held,
loosely.
Compassionate, kind,
firm in his convictions, and
Willing to admit what he didn’t know.

It was shared authority.
---
Now I walk into strangers’ lives,
Sharing their intimate moments,
Sharing - Secrets & Vigils
Sharing - Sorrows & Joys
And dreams - never to be fulfilled.

For now,
My ministry is presence – and absence,
My presence is quiet witness – and tissues,
My authority was already there… waiting.

Huh.
They were right.