Becoming A Priest

Day 68

Over 20 years ago (!) I was ordained to the office of Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood while living in Greeley, Colorado . The official date was Sunday July 29th 1990 and here is my journal entry from this important day:

10:03pm - I am now officially a priest in the church now. I was set apart today and boy did it feel good to leave those brats in the Teachers Quorum. The guys in the Priest Quorum are a lot more mature. Well, the rest of the day was pretty much routine. The weather was still quite dreary, but at least it didn’t rain. Well, not much happened today.

OK, first can I just say that this was a really disappointing journal entry. I had planned on posting my journal entry when I prepared this blog entry, knowing that I did keep a journal at this point (but not knowing what the heck I wrote). So, when I dug out this journal [Volume 4: January 25th 1990 - August 5th 1990] I hurried and turned to the date in question and found this very short, brief, nonspiritual entry.

Next, I can’t believe that I actually used the term “brats” to describe the guys in the Teachers Quorum. Not really accurate. Little children can be called “brats” sometimes, but teenage boys are not “brats”, but they can be “jerks”, “creeps”, “idiots”, and some other four-letter terms. I feel like a pompous jerk for describing the young men that way. The bottom line is that I didn’t fit in with them, because I wasn’t into sports or “guy stuff.” I stood out like a sore thumb and that left me vulnerable to be ridiculed or ignored. My story is that of so many others, so why quibble?

But I have to defend myself at this point, because I was only 16 at the time, so I was certainly a long, long way off from being a mature adult (20 years later and I’m still trying to be one!)
Now for the positives. Becoming a Priest meant that I would have the honor and privilege of offering the blessing on the Sacrament during Sacrament meeting, reciting those sacred prayers, word-for-word. Initially, I was intimidated because I thought I was supposed to memorize those prayers, but I was relieved to discover that we were provided “cue cards” at the Sacrament table. So, all I had to do was read with a clear, reverential voice. No problem, right?

Yeah, right. I’m sure many of my fellow followers know that this is easier said than done. I’m sure I’m not the first to admit that I’ve messed up with both prayers (on the water, and especially the bread). I’ve had to start over, I’ve had to do more than one take, I’ve had the bishop shake his head at me to let me know that I messed up. But these are important prayers and it was a serious, sacred business and eventually I was able to convey the right spirit and complete the prayers with no issues.

To this day whenever I hear a priest start the sacrament prayer over or struggle with a word I feel real empathy for them and I don’t laugh or mock them. It is not as easy as it seems; and this applies to any church calling or office.