Older Ministers Offer Wisdom

Your very unusual story about older people who are starting new careers in the ministry (“Heeding God’s Call Later in Life,” Dec. 4) was the first article that I ever read about religion that made me feel good. For those who say older adults starting second careers as ministers are simply escaping the frustrations and disappointments of other careers, I say this: I’d love to hear a worn-out, weather-beaten adult honestly and humbly ponder the meaning of life to his congregation, instead of a young, wide-eyed pastor fresh out of divinity school who can do nothing but recite 2,000-year-old archaic Scriptures.

As far as I know, Jesus never paid 20% on a credit card, never tried to get a good-looking girlfriend without having any money, never lost a job after a corporate restructuring, never suffered under abusive parents, and never tried to come up with the money for a down payment on a house or a new car.

Since Jesus had nothing to say about those kinds of problems, maybe these older and wiser ministers will.

MATTHEW OKADA

Pasadena