Open or Closed?

Olivia said something about being open to people, open to love, open to possibilities also means being open to being hurt. Being closed to the possibility of pain necessarily means being closed to others and closed to relationships. I wonder if this is why many religions have a celibate clergy? Insulated from the cuts and pains of family life and the pulls and pushes of relationships they are free to love God and love everyone equally. Free from partiality they can give generously to everyone who comes with needs and demands to their doors, and give absolution, advice and scripture quotes, then close the door at the end of the day. I wonder if this is why the Catholic nun's advice which I sought in University seemed so flavourless? She gave me her time generously, but never really seemed to engage with me, engage with my issues or understand my struggles, or even why they were important. Barb's blog had a quoted poem on a similar theme:

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose feeling is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd, is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But the risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.
Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave, he has forfeited freedom.
Only a person who risks – is free.

Maybe this is why I think we should have married clergy, female clergy, part-time clergy who also work in the "real" world. Only then can they know how God seems to us, and can teach us how to see God in the everyday world we inhabit. Then maybe we will all be "ministers of the Word" together.