#reality

LIFE IN THE FISHBOWL

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment
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I have a term for the life of ministry. I call it “life in the fishbowl.”

This life has many benefits: It offers flexible hours; It is never boring; It helps me keep on top of the spiritual disciplines; It has the potential to create healthy and long lasting friendships based around more than just work; There is an experience of the supernatural and transcendent that no other vocation offers; There is a level of respect and admiration that is gained by serving a community out of this lifestyle.

But there is a cost as well. One of those costs is “life in the fishbowl.” The life I live I live largely in the public eye. Much of who I am and what I and my family do is up for public inspection and comment. It is a fact that is true for every person whose vocation is in the public arena: entertainment personalities, political figures and clergy.

I have lived in the fishbowl for such a long time now that many times I don’t even pay attention to what people are watching. And like most fish in fishbowls I have found my places to go when I need to be “by myself”. I know how to create boundary space: Send calls to voicemail, stay away from e-mail or Messenger, hide in the Vicarage or in my room.

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Still sometimes living in the fishbowl it is hard to know when I should be going to my private space or when I should be letting people see me in all my glorious triumph and ruination. I struggle sometimes with how much of my victory to share and even more how much of my pain to share. I don’t think I am alone in that struggle. I just think in my position it takes more work to hide both triumph and trouble so perhaps for me it is a more intentional hiding, when I do hide.

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HOW MUCH OF YOUR LIFE DO YOU KEEP UNDER WRAPS?

SHARE YOUR WORLD FROM JULY 15, 2024

/ joseph elon lillie / 4 Comments

It is July 16th. I am only one day off this week in my sharing post!

I am sitting at my dining table writing this at 8 A.M. because I want to make sure not to miss another week of SHARE YOUR WORLD. This is the challenge where we answer four questions and give an affirmation at the end. By doing so we the contributors all share bits of our worlds.

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS AND MY ANSWERS:

  1. Do you have a bestie (ie. best friend) YES! Jody Clapp has been my friend since 6th grade. We met in Mrs. Lapointe’s math class. We were in marching band together and concert band. He was Snoopy. I was Charlie Brown in the school musical. We went to church together and were best men at each other’s wedding. He is the worship director at the church I pastor, the head of building and grounds and one of the church deacons. My kids all call him “Uncle Jody” and his wife “Aunt Paula”. He is one of my most precious friends
  2.   Do you have a lot of friends? I do have a lot of friends. I have a whole church that I call extended family. We do life together.
    3.  Has a friend ever let you down to the extent that the friendship has died? Yes. Although dead things can be resurrected.
    4.  Are you more likely to confide in a friend rather than family? My family are my closest friends.

GRATITUDE:

SO THANKFUL MY DAUGHTER SENT ME THIS SONG YESTERDAY.

AND SO THANKFUL FOR THE YOUNG MAN FRPOM OUR CHURCH WHO WROTE THIS SONG.

A KICKSTART ON BREATHING

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There is a lot going on here at The Vicarage. There has been a lot going on for months. I am OK just fighting the battle against getting rattled. God has told me that one of the things I need to do to to make it through this season is to just keep going with as normal a pace as possible. That requires a boat load of prayer and breathing.

My sister runs a ministry called, The Bridge Artistic Network, out of The Netherlands. One of the things she does as part of the ministry is a weekly “Creative Connection Video” called “Monday Morning Kickstart”. This week’s video is on breathing and focus.