Who Are the Happiest Workers?

The Yahoo! homepage posted a survey today of the the "top occupations in general happiness." According to the survey the happiest workers in the U.S. are...(drumroll, please) Clergy!
When I saw the title, I immediately wondered if clergy had been interviewed, and then I wondered if they made the list. I thought to myself, "I love my job. I get paid to talk about the thing I love most. How great is that!" But then I wondered if most pastors feel the same way about the ministry. Most that I know do.
I was very pleased that we topped the list. It only makes sense. As the Rev. Dr. Rick Wright states in the article, "With ministry I get to tie in my fundamental beliefs about God and life with what I do all day. So I get to work with people and assist them."
I became a pastor by accident. I just loved talking to people about the Lord. I was raised without knowing one thing about Christianity. All I knew about th Bible I learned through "Charlie Brown's Christmas." When I gave my life to Christ, He became so real to me that I felt I could sense His presence everywhere and see His glory in everything. I became a radical, fanatical, Bible-thumping believer. I just couldn't see how everyone couldn't see it.
That excitement for spiritual things carried over into every area of my life. At church, I just loved talking about the Bible, the Lord, and anything Heavenly. When I did, people would come up to me and say that I had helped them understand things in a new light. Eventually I was asked to Pastor a congregation. After much prayer, I felt that the Lord was indeed leading me into the ministry.
I have never regretted doing so. Sure, there have been times that I would liked to have "taken the wings of the morning and dwelt in the uttermost parts of the sea," but deep down inside I've always loved ministering to the Lord and His people.
So count me as one of those happy workers the article talks about. And if you have any questions about spiritual matters I love talking about it, not as one who thinks he has all the answers, but as one who has been captured by His beauty!