Almost a decade ago, I received a small wooden bowl as a gift from a coworker. For Christmas, she presented each member of our staff a bowl that was accompanied by a small laminated piece of paper with instructions on how the bowl can be used as an aid in prayer. Since then, that bowl has always been on display in my office and, I confess, I have rarely used it as an aid in prayer.
However, over the years it has come to drastically impact my understanding and identity of myself as a university chaplain and minister.
I am a bowl.
Probably not the most flattering identity, but it is one that gives me a great purpose. As a university minister, I am a bowl for our students and campus. There are times when a student needs a place to go and speak their minds. They may simply need a place to vent, or cry, or pour out their frustrations. On other occasions, they may need to bounce an idea off of someone, share a story, or ask for advice.
I have found that my role is to be a bowl for them. A place that can hold all their thoughts, words, frustrations, or grief. A place that can contain all the thoughts that are swirling around inside their heads. A place to hold any thought or experience so that they might be able to find a sense of peace for a little while. And a place where they can return and fill up the bowl some more at a later time.
This is often what I tell students, too, as I show them this wooden bowl. That one of my roles on campus is to be a bowl for them, a safe place to contain and hold anything for them. As I share this, what I have found over and over is a sense of great relief comes across their faces. It is as if what they were hoping might be true they discovered to be indeed true.
I think all of us, however, need a bowl or two in our life. It might be a pastor, best friend, spouse, or colleague. We need that person who will listen, contain all our stuff, hold it safely for us, and let us come back and fill up the bowl again. We all need that place to vent, to let things out, to ask for advice, or simply hear the words, ‘Me too,’ ‘I’ve been there,’ or ‘You’re not alone.’