This summer 14 Candler students are serving in ministry through Candler Advantage, a paid summer internship in conjunction with Candler’s Contextual Education Program. Over the course of the summer many of these students will be sharing their experiences here on the blog.
Today is hurried and a bit frenzied. Can you really experience frenzy in miniature form?
It has been one of those days where it feels like I am playing catch up and putting out small fires. I am working on the order of worship for the next two Sundays and no detail is too small. Great care and attention is given to this assignment and every detail is an important one. To that end, I recruit and mobilize three sets of eyes to edit and proof the order of worship. Painstakingly the document is reviewed and each line is carefully inspected. Pleased with results and somewhat patting myself on the back, the order or worship is printed, folded and joyfully checked off of my mental things to do list. It was not until we were leaving for the evening that someone noticed a glaring mistake. The title of our first hymnal selection is printed as, O For a Thousand Things to Sing. Really? Yes, really.
I shake my head in horror and disbelief. This first week as a summer intern and what happens? My humanity shows itself in full regalia. It was staring me in the face with all its limitations as the gaffes of the week begin to show. My labor was done with joy and in good order; however a few of the outcomes were dotted with the realization that my humanness peaks through and sometimes there are going to be mistakes. Little ones and great big ones.
I have experienced being human all my life but not until recently have I accepted that little humble fact along with the acceptance that things will sometimes be less than perfect. Thorough, yes. Perfect, not so much. I can say to myself, however, that it is okay. I am okay. It won’t be perfect all the time, although I strive and labor for the best outcome, but it will be an effort of love. And in this case a work of love, stamped with the a little grace from my Pastor who forgives the rough edges of my humanity.
This Sunday, in the order of worship, the hymn title might read O for a thousand things to sing, but our voices will be lifted to the words found on page fifty-seven of our hymnal, just as Charles Wesley intended in 1739.
It is good to recognize our shortcomings, ask for forgiveness, then pick ourselves up and start afresh. Each day is an opportunity for a new beginning. That sounds a little like love and forgiveness to me. Two sides of the same coin.
Thank you Candler for the gift of this summer internship as I learn, love, grow and become.
- Davina Taylor Massey
Davina is a rising third year United Methodist MDiv student from the North Georgia Annual Conference.