Some pastors dry up, or are used up, before they can become persons. This, of course, is sad beceause all pastors have the potential to become persons. Yet, some pastors discover too late they never have been persons. Others only become persons after they quit being pastors, but the lucky ones become persons early—and just keep becoming better people as they pastor.
When the pastor becomes a person, there are frequently other people in the parish who decide to become persons, too. Some people will make the decision to change out of their masquerades and costumes, remove their masks, allow others to see their scars—which are real, not pasted on for show—and they will walk the earth, upright, and look at themselves in the mirror. Some will admit, after years of denial, that they are real persons, loved by God, and are tired of living a lie.
Pastors who become persons can have this effect on others. People can see other persons standing in front of them. Sometimes they call the person pastor, priest or reverend; but they know a person when they see one. People who are hurting, elated or full of pain always will trust another person.
When pastors discover they have become persons in the eyes of their people, it is a wondrous thing. It is freeing, and freedom is elation. Pastors who become people go from grace to grace, from strength to strength. A person has no greater calling in life than to become a person, a person of worth, a person of substance, a person uniquely created in God’s image.
Pastors who become persons eventually put away their masquerade costumes and get on with the business of living, which always is littered with reality. Persons get their hands dirty in the soil, but also soil their hands in other people’s dirt. Persons like to watch beautiful flowers grow, as well as like to tend the beauty in other people’s lives. Persons don’t make swift judgments about other people, but know people are flawed. They are not repulsed by these defects. Persons don’t stand at a distance. They kneel, plant and water. Persons look like anyone else. They are real. They are not acting their respective parts. Pastors are people too.
Pastors are people, too, and pastors who become persons have no need of masks. They can reveal their scars without fear of judgment or hostility. They are willing to gaze upon other people’s scars and apply balm as needed. Sometimes they encourage people to get back on the bike, despite the abrasions.
Pastors who become persons know who they are, and they want to help other people become real, too. It is difficult work, hard work, but fulfilling. Only a real person can do it.
