Manifesto of a College Educated Redneck Minister

You don’t have to please the institution
You will always come out the doors
to which all are flocking
And enter the hovels those in power
never notice.
You will always ride on the winds of a wild spirit
While others are perfecting yet
another plan at another board meeting
Another strategy for success
with a new bottom line.

You don’t have to care.

You don’t need a mask of perfection
You don’t need a carefully constructed plan
You can abandon the need for
success—accolades—well-crafted
blueprints.

Be yourself so others can be themselves.
Love yourself—love those you meet
Dream of the soil and give that dream
to a child.
Live sacramentally so that the Eucharist
you practice
Can be made a reality.

Love the land. Love your neighbor.
Hike in the woods to find the truth
And entrust what you learn to those
who can give you nothing in return.

Build no monuments—establish no
institutions—accumulate no power.

Live simply. Take all that you have and
be poor.

Live to love. Live so that when you die
no plaque or history book will
preserve your name
But you will live on in the dancing
forest and in the hearts
Of those you loved.