The Public Life

The Cruelty In The Calling & Our Shared Humanity

“I think I wanted to be famous.”

I was shocked when I found these words tumbling our of my mouth in a therapy session as few years ago. My therapist, John, had asked me about my life, and the unseen and unexpected pressures of having somewhat of a public profile.

When I first found John, my initial question was, “Do you know who I am?” As arrogant as that sounds, you may have no idea what it means to be a published author, pastor, Enneagram theorist and teacher, and generally public person and have a therapist or doctor say, “I’ve heard you preach,” or “I’ve been to your church.” In fact, I was recently at a doctor’s office, standing in front of him, barely clothed, when he said, “I thought I recognized your voice. I’ve seen you preach on video.”

Ugh!

So, I wanted to know if John knew who I was, because, quite frankly, it changes everything.