What? Scoutmaster. Me!!!

One the cruel twist of fate in my life was being called a Scoutmaster. Now, I had been raised never to turn down a calling. I had also been raised that all callings came from God. I had assumed, growing up, that “coming from God” meant God spoke directly the church leader extending the calling as He did to Joseph Smith.

Well, that illusion lasted until I served in Bishopric and saw how most callings were really extended. The Bishopric looks at the likes and interests of the person, discusses what positions are open, determines if the person has the time and can contribute positively to the dynamics of the proposed organization, then prays about it. Absent a lightning bolt, earthquake, or other tangible manifestation supporting or opposing the decision, the Bishopric extends that calling.

Now we can debate the true nature of inspiration or the vagaries of revelation, or we can just move on. I suggest we move on and have that conversation face to face.

Bishop Chris Dowling: Redefining the Role of Bishop

We left our little corner of Zion in the Chapel Hill ward to return back to the west after eight years. Brad Kramer and Mike Tullis left a year or so ahead of us to go work for WordPerfect in Orem, UT. They opened the way for me to get hired on.

For me this as a complete career change. I was working at Duke University as a programmer and IT specialist. The job at Word Perfect was for a Technical Writer. They wanted me because I had eight years’ experience as a user and that was quite rare in the technical writing world.