A handful of days ago would have marked the 37th anniversary of my ordination as a priest with the Paulist Fathers. When I left, it wasn’t that I no longer felt called to serve. I left because I realized that the means through which I served had to allow me to find a life partner: a spouse.
Faced with the need for income, I found a job in the software industry.
A bit of a surprise, huh? How would I live a life dedicated to service in the corporate world? Why not look to another faith that allowed married ministers, work at a non-profit, or become a therapist?
Good questions. I considered them and even obtained a Counseling Psychology degree, but none fit. I was searching for work that supported the same passion that led me into the priesthood: helping others experience God as loving and supportive rather than punitive and condemning.
After years of searching, full of questions and doubts, I found a way to live my passion and serve the highest good: as a spirit healer, storyteller, and story-receiver. So many people yearn to be seen and heard by someone who understands the ups and downs of their life. In my novels, I write of a character whose path mirrors elements of my own journey, even though our lives unfold in very different ways. My hope is that readers might see pieces of their own journey within his and discover hope along the way.
What about you? What fuels your spirit and brings you fulfillment? It might be as a parent, teacher, house cleaner, accountant, salesperson, or through countless other roles.
If you haven’t yet identified your passion, take a step back and reflect on what brings you joy. From within that, you may discover your calling.
And if I’m any example, that search can take you along many paths. None is a waste, for each one teaches you something valuable.
Looking back over the thirty-seven years since my ordination, I can now see that every turn in the road was guiding me toward a different expression of the same calling: helping others feel seen, supported, and connected to the divine.
I send you all loving support that you identify your passion and live it out with great zeal, for the highest good.
If you’re curious about my novels, the first book is Shadows and Light: Journeys of a Spirit Healer.
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Remember Your Divine You 