Bill Stroop was the sort of guy that I find intriguing.  When I got to seminary in 2000 Bill was a year ahead of me.

He was remarkable in many ways.  One could tell after just a few minutes of talking to Bill that he was wicked smart. 

He was also funny and exceedingly well-organized.

If you ever had occasion to need notes for a class that was missed, Bill could lay his hands on them in an instant.  He was trained in microbiology and a tenured professor at a medical school before coming to seminary.  He wore his insatiable curiosity and keen intellect like a comfortable sweater.  I never felt talked down to by Bill.  I appreciate that.

Bill also worked extremely hard in seminary.  As my friend John Spicer commented in his blog today I suspect that Bill worked at least as hard after ordination as he did before.   I pray he didn’t work too hard.

Bill suffered a massive coronary over the weekend and died.  He was 58.  He had been rector at his current parish for less than two months.

One of my mentors in seminary, Will Spong, used to lament the lack of integrity on the part of seminary training.  Not the kind of integrity that would produce liars, cheats, philanderers or apathetic priests.  No, his concern about integrity had to do with Clergy Self Care.  He said it something like this, “We make a big deal about talking about how Clergy need to take care of themselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually and then we turn around and make demands on seminarians that suggest that ‘self care is what you do after ordination.’”  Simply put, the culture of the Seminary and the Church had been evangelized by the achievement pathos of the modern world.

Don’t get me wrong, clergy are not unique in not taking time to be still, but we ought to model better than we do as ministers. This is where the integrity of self care applies to all Christians.

“The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons.” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 855)

If our ministry as communities of hope and resurrection are to be one of integrity, we have to remember that taking time to rest and play is not ‘slacking off’ but necessary re-creation to be faithful parts of Christ’s Body, the Church, here and now that points toward a redeemed and renewed future for all.

The long and the short of it is that we often end Eucharist with a blessing that says, “May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ…” and a dismissal that exhorts us to “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord” (I believe that the order matters here!).  We cannot bear that peace with integrity if we are always on the go.  We cannot give what we ourselves do not possess.

Please remember my friend Bill in your prayers.

Take care of yourselves!  I mean really take care of yourselves!

God delights in our resting in the Divine Presence at least as much as whatever work we might accomplish through faith and by grace.