"Call it grace, enlightenment, peak experience, baptism in the Spirit, revelation, consciousness, growth or surrender, but until such a threshold is walked through, people are never helped in any true lasting sense."(R. Rohr "Radical Grace" p. 250)
My vocation falls into the category of "helping profession." As a pastor, I'm supposed to offer some level of counseling and to be someone who can point people in the right direction. I don't have any advanced degrees in counseling, so I'm more like a first responder, who hopefully knows where to send the person next to get the next level of care.
Of course as a religious leader one direction I do point to is prayer, that conversation with God. I can't make anyone believe anything. And this is true no matter what one's faith tradition is. I also cannot do the work for others. I can show the threshold, I can't make anyone but me cross it. After that choice is made I'm out of the picture, and that's probably a good thing.
People may tell me how much I helped them. But much like a guide on a tour, only what they truly notice is what lasts.
Blessings,
Ed
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