Money Matters?

List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

Money has never been the goal of my work life. Sure, I wanted enough to live and provide for the significant people in my life. I currently do the same work I have done for just shy of 38 years. The work I chose and choose is as the spiritual leader of a faith community; I am an ordained clergyperson. The rewards and demands of the work are numerous; rarely is one of those rewards money. Personally, I am drawn to the variety of tasks and helping others on their faith journey. The work keeps me busy and gives me time to reflect on matters of importance, alone and with others.

Choosing work is about finding our passion and matching that passion with the needs of the world and our giftedness. My passions are relationship, connection, and wholeness/healing. My gifts are being present, giving encouragement, communicating clearly, and releasing judgment/judgmentalism. To borrow worlds from an old song, “What the world needs now is Love…”

Choosing work is about finding our passion and matching that passion with the needs of the world and our giftedness.

Returning to the prompt, my first choice of jobs if “money didn’t matter” would be what I do now. Admittedly, I would enter ministry with a greater clarity about the challenges of the work in a rapidly changing and diverse world. Still, what other work might I choose if “money didn’t matter?” Three jobs rise to the top of what I would choose; all three contain aspects of my current work:

• Spiritual Companionship/Spiritual Direction/Wisdom Mentoring
• Life Coaching
• Teaching

Spiritual Companionship is an attractive opportunity. As more people move away from any form of organized religion, there is a growing desire/need for spiritual companions to assist in discerning the Divine-connection in people’s lives. The focus and trappings of religion have left a negative impression on a growing number of people; some folks have been traumatized by their religion of origin. Being able to help folks discover where and how the Divine might be manifesting in their lives would be exciting.

Another way to go could be as a Life Coach, defined as “an advisor who helps people make decisions, set and reach goals, or deal with problems.” This is a piece of my current work that I very much enjoy. I may not call myself a life coach but helping folks make decisions and set goals are wrapped up in my ministry. I could see spending time in this kind of work.

One other job that attracts me is as a Teacher. I loved my teachers and enjoy teaching as part of ministry! Sadly, I am seeing the teaching profession become a much maligned and under-appreciated profession in the current cultural environment; also, teachers are grossly underpaid. While we hear lots of rhetoric about the importance of learning and education, the demeaning of teachers by some politicians seems almost like a sport. Add to that the “helicopter-parents” who want whatever their child produces to be graded as superior. This myopic view would make this job the most challenging choice I could make.

Money is not and will not be the goal of the work I do. Despite the contrary messages from advertisers, all I need is enough not more,and that, I have.