Some types of jobs just wear down a worker. And, according to an article in Saturday's The New York Times, we can now add minister to the list. It strikes me as odd. After all, a minister is ideally in sync with the universe, believing that life's end is just the start of something a whole lot better. (As for me, on the religious continuum, I align more with Buddhism.) But recent research shows that the job (or calling) of being a minister leads to a host of ailments: diabetes, depression, hypertension, gastrointestinal distress and heart problems, as Samuel G. Freedman reports in the Times' On Religion column. Why should this be? Two reasons, as Freedman reports. First, the pressure is unrelenting. As one person put it, "Sunday comes around." So no matter what's going on in a minister's personal life, he or she still must get ready for Sunday services, raise money for operations, counsel the faithful, teach Sunday school. It is 24/7. Here's the other. The ministry draws a personality type that 1. always takes care of other before taking care of themselves, which means 2. they are pleasers, depending on the approval of others for a positive self-image. These poles create self-imposed stress, which over the long term is unhealthy, mentally and physically. Being in service to the divine, even more, it seems, than being in service to the law, has a high cost.
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