This spam I got

I frequently get spams telling me I can be an "ordained minister" within 48 hours.

I cannot imagine anything more awful, or profaning. Clergymen of all the major religions must spend years in a seminary learning not only the theology of their religion, but also how to help people. A big part of any minister's job is, well, ministering. Many of us want to help others, and as inexpertly as we can, most of us will help others during our lives. But when you take up the shepherd's staff, he says, "Feed my sheep." How will you do this if you do not know how?

People often apply for these "instant ordinations" as a gimmick, so that they can tell their buddies that they can marry people. Sometimes people pick them up so that they can in fact marry someone. Aside from the dubious legality of these ordinations, why would you step up to the plate and say you're God's minister, simply so you can do like the captain of the Love Boat and smile fondly at the bride and groom?

When my grandmother was buried, my mother walked into the house of the minister, and after talking for a bit, my mother said to the minister who would be presiding, "this is hard." The minister, a woman who'd been assigned two years earlier to the small town where my Mother grew up, just took my mother's hand, held it, and looked at her for five minutes, sharing the moment with my mother. Outside the rain sprinkled down. I truly felt God in that moment, in the simple service this woman offered my mother.

A real ordination is anointed - even a sacrament, in the more traditional Christian churches. God works through the hands of ministers, priests, and rabbis, who themselves have worked hard to be servants of their congregations, but also of God Himself. It is a difficult calling, especially in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church, where it is a separate fork in the road from having a family of your own.

We don't need the "status" of an instant ordination. We're all called to what Christians call the "common priesthood" of being a good example to others, and serving our families, our communities, and even strangers with everything we have to give. For that, you do not need a collar, robes, or any of the badges of office.

Want to be a minister? Smile at someone when you're grumpy. Be a shoulder to cry on when someone is grieving. Tell someone a joke when they need a laugh. Help a friend (or even a stranger) through a hard time.

Not all miracles involve parting seas. Moses would no doubt be the first to insist on that point. Every one of us has the ability to help God answer a prayer.

As Mother Theresa would say, "Let us begin."