ECM

I sent my adviser an update of my paper this afternoon. It still needs more work, but it didn't get any tonight because I took yet another night off and attended the annual gala for the Episcopal City Mission.

I'll admit to being a bit conflicted about charity galas. I attend two per year (this one and another for the Neumann Center at Washington University). They are certainly enjoyable. And the money goes to very good things. Still, damn, wouldn't it be great if people would just give without all the trimmings because it's the right thing to do?

I guess, but Christ attended quite a few parties, so maybe it's not such a bad way to make things happen.

Anyway, ECM ministers to juvenile offenders. It's tough work. As tonight's keynote speaker made clear, it's sometimes rewarding (meeting a former offender who has become a responsible adult) and sometimes not (meeting a former offender who's being leaving the courthouse en route to the big house).

That's the nature of ministry. The ends are in god's hands. We are to be concerned with the means. Sometimes that's a hard thing. I don't know where I'm going to end up when I get my degree. I could land a teaching job at a small university. That's always been the goal, but the increased reliance on adjunct faculty makes that less likely than it was 20 years ago. I might stay in industry. I like the work and the money sure is good.

But, I'm also starting to think I might wind up at a community college or 4-year state school. The pay would be bad. Crazy bad. It would almost qualify as volunteer work. The resources wouldn't be anything like what I'd have in industry or at a university. Could it mean all the difference in one person's life? I don't know. I'm pretty good at getting results out of people who care. I don't really have a track record one way or the other with people who don't.

At the very least, I want to help with the kids who nobody wants to help. I'm not remotely equipped to do that, but I'm willing to learn.