The one on the right said “You are not the boss of me.” To her parents. To her teachers. She has to experience something to make a decision. She doesn’t read directions. She has a smart mouth. https://goo.gl/images/xdKzgG

I thought of her yesterday when I received instruction on how to pray: “Please be inclusive of other faith traditions when you give the invocation.”

I will celebrate 36 years of ordination around the same time I complete the DMin program. The only instruction I can recall on “how to pray” is “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (Matthew 6.9, NRSV)”

That instructor has authority with me. He is the boss of me. I will heed his counsel. As for the rest, I’ll invoke the spirit of the one on the right.

Screen shot, Terri Gross’s notes

Small details

I have a file of “thank-you” notes. One of my favorites is an old one from a five-year-old who is now graduating from high school: “Dear Rev. Cindy, thank you for teaching me that Caspian is Jesus,” complete with a drawing of me (signified by a cross) and a lion (a stick figure lion looks like a dog, but with a mane).

What he doesn’t know but will, as he ages, is that the thank-you note continues to have a ripple effect for the recipient, many years after it is received. It may have taken him 15 minutes (because writing was a new skill, but it still speaks volumes of love to me.

The small details matter. The five minutes makes a difference. My lesson from this is that I need to take the five minutes to do the caring thing.

Author: Cynthia Garrard

The Boss of Me

Pastoral Care in the Small Details

Small details