If you work in a church, especially in the office or as a pastor, this past week is one of the most intense of the entire year (for Christians at least). In 8 days I did 7 bulletins for the worship services of holy week. In addition, I had to try to keep track of the minister who was wandering off at the time when everyone needed him, fight with the treasurer, who thinks she is personally responsible for keeping us all straight with money, figure out how to justify continuing to work 30 hours a week when the other minister returns from maternity leave so my pay isn't cut (which of course the anal treasurer is actively warning of the sky falling if that should happen), and listen to my husband tell me all the reasons he really doesn't want to work but it might be good for me to earn a little more. Oh, and then there was the little matter of the new bulletin cover that I have been elected to design, have labored over for 2 months, and when finally I felt that I had something good enough to hand to our pastor, he glanced at it and told me to put it in his box. I tell you where I wanted to put it and it wasn't his box. Not to mention that the printer was going to charge us $250.00 to come up with the design - anal treasurer kept us from going with that idea - and I won't be seeing a bonus for that work.
I'm not stupid enough to think that work is always gratifying, that any of us get recognized and rewarded as often as we should, that all my work days are going to go my way. But..........it seems to me that in a church there should be a little more recognition of the human needs of the people in the church, including staff. Of course, that's one reason lots of people don't go to church. How many times have I listened to friends tell me about the "hypocrisy" in churches. It's hard to reconcile the word with the actions, in church and out. I think what makes it more difficult in church is that we have learned to use words to pretend that we care more than we do. Church people can be very good at covering up their own sins with words not works. Neither one is right. My husband says, "if you're work speaks for itself, don't interrupt." Good message. I say, "if your work speaks for itself, it's still nice to have someone tell you that it's appreciated."
So basically, it was the week from hell - which I'm sure Christ was thinking 2000 years ago so I don't guess I should be too much of a martyr. I'm glad it's over and I'm glad tomorrow is Easter because I can sure use the good news that this past week is past! Whether a phoenix, or a God, it's good to know that one can be born again, arise from the ashes, resurrect. For me the message of Easter is a message of hope, a message that you get a second chance, that good days do follow bad, and that the darkest hour is truly just before the dawn. A message we all benefit from regardless of who we pray to.
