Episode 14: Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly (with Pastor Michael Fick)

If I asked you to write up a job description for a pastor, what would you say? Preach the gospel, officiate at weddings and funerals, guide the spiritual well-being of the congregation. In the past few years, I’ve had a chance to see a little more what the work of a pastor really is. It IS all that, and it’s also social worker, custodian, building manager, CEO. There are precious few days actually off, and even then, you’re pretty much always on call.

And that’s when the ebb and flow of life is pretty normal (if I can even call it “normal”). But what about when the world seems to be (literally) on fire? When the stakes and the tensions are so high, and every day seems to bring a new crisis?

Well, today we have one pastor’s perspective. The Reverend Michael Fick is the pastor of Ebenezer Lutheran Church, a progressive church in Chicago and my spiritual home. We’re talking today about fear and love, pain and justice, anger and mercy, and how it is possible for mere mortals to create something beautiful and true out of some garbage and a patch of desert.

It’s a great conversation, and I walked away from it, not with any more answers, but a little comforted in my questions. Regardless of whether you have a faith practice or not, I think you may find a little comfort here as well.

Salvation Mountain, CA