The Phone

This is the pastoral emergency phone or as my supervisor calls it, "the bat phone." Basically, if there is some sort of emergency after hours or on the weekend, I get to field the call. Let me preface this by saying that I haven't had my CPE yet because I'm a slacker. Well, it's half that and also half I had other things that I needed to get done in the summers. But, either way, it's my first time being in an on-call situation.

And it's interesting. It's difficult because you don't want to let the phone rule your life. Point in case: I have a social life and I have a few friends that are celebrating birthdays this week so I'm going out. However, I have to have the phone with me and it's actually stressful. I think for CPE it would be easier because you more or less expect a call. With this phone, it's really random. The one actual phone call I got was a wrong number. Another point in case: tomorrow I'm planning on taking a good long run. Now, I never run with a phone. I always have one in my car but I never take it on the actual run. I don't want to extra weight. In this case, I think I'm going to have to run with it. Yeah, it's not the most fun scenario.

But at the same time, it's all a question of accessibility. I want to be accessible to my congregation. And I want to be there if a need arises and be able to fulfill my role as a pastor. So I'm always torn when I have the phone. It's a stark reminder that my life isn't so private any more and that often times the needs of others will be greater than my own needs. Is that going to stop me from going on my run or going out? No, it just makes it a little bit different. So I go on with my life, check the phone constantly, look a bit like a dork (those belt attachments aren't made for women), and pray that if the need arises, that God will give the grace I need in the situation.