For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book,Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.
A religious community has much in common with any group of people, be they a family or a local church group. Foremost among these commonalities is a myopic view of the terrain, often showing itself under the title of “It’s not my job.”- While I lived at the Little Portion, one of my jobs was to sort the recyclables. We had two receptacles in the kitchen—one for trash and the other for cans. I would try to tend to both as frequently as possible, but sometimes I didn’t get around to it in a timely manner, and it was then I began to formulate my understanding about people’s attitudes regarding things they didn’t own.
I remember watching an individual approach the recycling bin in the kitchen with a can in his hand. Since I had been remiss in dealing with the receptacle, this person found it overflowing. I then watched him as he placed his can high upon the pile, balancing it in such a way that defied gravity, only to walk away satisfied that he did his job. I guess it never occurred to him to pick up the can and carry it fifteen feet out to the recycling area. Oh, that’s right, IT WASN’T HIS JOB! Continue Reading
Thinking Out Loud 