Mandated Reporter

When I was in parish ministry I lived with the mantle of mandated reporting. Meaning that I heard personal confessions, personal stories, personal problems and the people who talked to me had the assurance that it stayed exactly that. Personal. Unless, of course, their personal "whatever" involved harm to a child, harm to themselves, harm to another. Then I was a mandated reporter. I had to report to authorities, emergency services, etc. the harm or violation.

Now I live with what is called "unconditional confidentiality." That means that personal stays personal...no matter what. I am not a mandated reporter anymore. I am a keeper of secrets.

That's hard to live under, to be completely honest. And I am thankful that I don't have to keep any really ugly secrets, or that I've had to convince anyone to turn themselves in.

I carry with me every single day the burdens that others have shared with me. It's hard; I'm not going to lie. I see them in the market, at the movies, in the coffee shop, and I know exactly what's going on in their lives. We smile our polite smiles, say our polite greetings, and move on like we've never really shared anything as personal as what I know.

You might think it's heavy to bear, but it's a beautiful thing really. I see individuals I've counseled in times of hopelessness and I get to pray for them as we pass on the street. I see couples I've counseled when their marriage was on rocks (some of them it still is) and I get to pray for them while we buy our groceries. My "mandated reporting" has changed from the authorities to the Authority.

It's a beautiful thing to get on the inside of people's lives. Sometimes I wish I could invite others to pray with me for a person, or that I could connect this person with that person because they share similar pain and carry similar baggage, but I can't. All I can do is trust that the Healer knows my requests and moves in subtle ways to mend broken lives.