To help pay the bills, I do some part-time hours as a parking valet at a large medical center.
Most patients and their families are genuinely thankful for the service - some even bless us in the Lord's name.
But I've also noticed that taking off my clergy collar and putting on a valet's windbreaker changes some things. Delivery people, custodial staff and other "blue collar" folks are more friendly and talkative, while some doctors and adminstrators pass by without eye contact, let alone words. The distinctions and preferences of the world, the flesh and the devil are always with us.
But Easter tells us that someone greater is always with us, too. Jesus announces that we are his brothers and sisters, equally loved children of the heavenly Father. Risen from the tomb, Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to carry his message, "I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." May the church exult in this gift and practice what one Anglican group calls "radical inclusion." (But go to the link and read what it says... "inclusion" is a term that can be misrepresented and lead us away from the Father's love.)
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