I Am A Priest!

Yesterday, a man I love and admire as the head of my congregation stood at the pulpit and said I could be a priest.

This was a little odd, you see, because I remember being eight years old and having announced with all the self importance of childhood, that when I grew up, I was going to be a priest. Since I was Roman-Catholic, it fell to my mom and our priest to explain to me that I couldn't actually be a priest because I was a girl. Because the pope said so. And I was heartbroken, because not only did a dream die, but because my Mom had no idea what to say when I reminded her, "But you said girls can do anything boys can."

Except for that it seemed.

So yesterday, when I heard Rev. Neil, the head pastor at my church, say that 'priest' and 'minister' meant in our faith that priesthood of all believers, that it included me, that those in service to God could call themselves 'priest' and 'minister', I started to cry. I had no idea that some part of me still needed to hear those words.

I could be a priest.

After service, I went to Rev. Neil, to thank him, to share what it had meant to me to hear that I could be a priest. And he gave me one of his little smiles, one that says I'm being quite silly not to see the whole picture, and said, "You already are."

I am a priest.

Somewhere, an eight year old version of myself is dancing around and singing the "I Told You So" song.