Interview - Full Response

Thomas Moore   with The Rev. Wayne Walder

Thomas Moore (TM):

The first thought that occurred to me when you said that was that I usually work, (when I work in Ministry) in the model of the spiritual teacher.

In many different traditions the spiritual leader is not really called to fix the world. That’s not what he or she does. Rather that person is called to be a holy person - a person who has a special degree of contemplation or reflection. They have the ability to see the world in a certain way and have shaped their life and a personality out of that. People come to that person to be in their presence because of what he/she has achieved and who he/she has become.

So the idea is not to bring your problems to this person. I mean you wouldn’t do that to so many of the spiritual leaders of the world. You don’t bring your problems to them. What you do is you come to them seeking a depth, a vision and a personality that has been really transformed by preparation.

This is the model for me.

I’m not saying that a Unitarian Minister ought to suddenly become a guru in the mountain, I don’t mean it that way, but I think that there is something in the model of the holy person that could be used. I bet there would be less burnout too. Less burnout because the point of spirituality is not to keep giving out and doing the impossible, but to constantly “be” somebody. By just being yourself and pursuing those things that are of great interest to you, you are changed. That in itself is a great use to people.

So I guess I suggest, you don’t always have to do something. Being someone can be healing for both your ministry and the people you minister too. A “way of being” can be one of the most useful things we can do.