Lately, my dreams are forming a pattern: I’m back at work again, but have no function. I wander around the building, looking for my office—in one dream variation, it’s now a storeroom. In other versions, I don’t know anyone, and they don’t know me. Most disturbing: Although I’m still employed, I don’t have any work to do! In my post-retirement way of thinking, this qualifies as a nightmare.
I attribute these repeating dreams to the possibility that I am—and perhaps have always been—a kind of plow horse. This dependable, old-fashioned farm animal did the necessary work of pulling a plow to make furrows. At a metaphorical level, a plow horse might also be someone whose core identity is their role as a trustworthy worker. Someone who gets the job done.
As I noted above, I may be that now-older plow horse, likely less able to withstand the rigors of hard work. I don’t think of myself that way, though; I really enjoyed my long career as a church professional. I believe I can still pull that load and plow furrows, and can do it quite well, thank you.
Gratefully, this recurring dream goes away when I wake up. More importantly, I’m happy that Faith Lutheran Church has provided me with so many ways to extend my career-usefulness into these later years. That’s a blessing almost beyond words! In our congregation, these opportunities aren’t only the tasks of usual organizational life. I’m sometimes asked to be part of new endeavors, even off-the-wall and beyond-the nine-dots stuff. With other members, I get to dig into new ideas and tasks. New furrows. With our pastors and other leaders, I can dream wildly, beyond ecclesiastical nightmares.
I’m grateful that, is this congregation, I still get to be a plow horse….
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