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1/ My wife and I binged pizza, beer and West Wing last night...and behold, Valentine’s night was very good. That said, we watched the end of season 3, which was kind of a highlight show with several presidents and staffers giving insight into life and work in the West Wing...
2/ One of the flashback scenes started me thinking...I’m a bit hesitant to put this out there for fear of either no responses (which I expect) or quick and easy responses (which, I’d rather have no responses 
), but here we go.
I believe the episode is “Take this Sabbath Day”
), but here we go. I believe the episode is “Take this Sabbath Day”
3/ Bartlett is wrestling heavily with commuting the death sentence of a convicted drug dealer and, I believe (without going back to watch the entire episode) that is what he is thinking about when he summons his childhood priest.
4/ The priest asks him if he should address him as “Jed” or “Mr President.” And Bartlett’s response, while profound, it threw me into a bit of a tailspin. He basically said “While we’re in this office, I’d prefer Mr. President,
5/ because there are decisions that I have to make in this job that I wouldn’t entrust to ‘Jed.’” Or something to that effect. Here’s my struggle: I’ve longed to tear down the “professional pastor” aura. I don’t want to be a persona, but an actual human being.
6/ I view myself as a struggler, who is accountable before God to lead fellow strugglers in following Jesus. But there are decisions and there are conversations that come with this office that...frankly, I wouldn’t trust to “Trey.”
7/ There are hard things to say, things I have to stand before God not just as “Trey,” but as pastor. That said, even Jesus told his disciples to call him “friend,” and I don’t want to give the thought that “Trey” is somehow more important than anyone else, but...
8/ The office of “Pastor” does have a specific and hard calling. I’ve seen that abused, shoot, we all have, but has anyone else struggled with not so easily dismissing either side of this, but having to walk in this tension? I’d love to hear about it...
