The Tilted Halo
The Tilted Halo podcast has a refreshing and honest perspective on the challenges pastors face in their ministry and those involved in ministry as a whole. Hosted by Pastor Kathleen Panning, who has seen it all, this edgy show explores the idea that we all have a "tilted halo" - a recognition that we are not perfect and all make mistakes.
Through personal experiences, interviews with fellow pastors, leaders, and insights from scripture, this show offers advice and encouragement for those struggling with the weight of their imperfections. From burnout and rude awakenings to personal failures and shortcomings, The Tilted Halo provides a safe space for pastors to share their struggles and find support from a community of like-minded souls around the globe.
With a focus on authenticity, vulnerability, and humanity at large, this podcast challenges the notion that pastors must have it all together and invites listeners to embrace their humanity and lean into the grace of God. Whether you are a pastor or someone looking for a fresh perspective on life's challenges, The Tilted Halo is a must-listen in the search for hope, healing, and a renewed sense of purpose.
The Tilted Halo
EP 39: Confronting Entitlement and Discovering Gratitude
What if your sense of entitlement was obstructing your gratitude? Get ready for this conversation as we dissect the concept of entitlement, the unseen stumbling block to appreciating both life's challenges and its victories. This episode of The Tilted Halo goes into the effects of entitlement on our lives, our relationships, and the communities we're in. We examine different places it shows up such as work and social interactions, and I prompt you to question how it may be influencing your own attitude towards life.
This is not about blaming others for the issue of entitlement, but rather a call to reflect on our individual roles and make a positive change. Tune into this enlightening episode and challenge your perspective on life and relationships.
Welcome to the Tilded Halo. This is a new podcast and it's for anybody who's a woman in ministry. You might be a pastor like myself, a bishop, a priest, a rabbi, music minister, elder children's minister whatever your title is. You're absolutely in the right place, especially if you're someone who loves your ministry and you're doing it well and you're feeling pressure to sometimes be perfect and deep down inside, you know you're not. And how in the world to deal with that? And, men, you're absolutely welcome here too, because this is about ministry and the same thing can happen to you. So you're all in the right place. Let's get started with the show.
Speaker 1:Have you ever noticed that there are some people who feel like they're entitled to things? You know they're entitled to a parking spot, they're entitled to have their voice heard, no matter what they're entitled to. You know be in the spotlight and entitlement seems to be kind of a thing these days. If you wanted to be called that. Every group, every political stripe in this country and around the world for that matter, is standing up and wanting their voice heard, which is fine. I'm not against that, that's not an issue. But feeling like they are entitled to be right, they are entitled to have things done kind of their way. They are entitled to be the leader they are entitled to. You know, you name it. Entitlement is the feeling of I'm the one that everybody is supposed to listen to. I'm the one who is, like I said is right. I'm entitled to the parking spot. I'm entitled to privileges that somebody else isn't. I'm entitled to not have to deal with certain things. That's somebody else's stuff, or, you know, I just am not supposed to have to worry about that. There are many ways in which people can any of us, and we all do this too. So it's not just pointing a figure out there. You, you, you, it's any and all of us.
Speaker 1:We have ways and times where we are feeling and acting as though we are entitled, entitled to a privilege, entitled to a place, entitled to you know, you name it that we are entitled to a variety of different things, and there are situations where people who have been not heard, who have been the ones kind of put off to the side. In any organization, any business, any culture, they do have a right, and having rights are different than entitlement. In the United States, we talk about the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That's in the Bill of Rights, that we have certain rights under the Constitution and well and good, perfect. Entitlement goes beyond that and says, well, yeah, I got those rights and I'm going to push it a little further and take a little bit more than just what's my right. I'm entitled to something that someone else isn't, that I have a privileged spot, a privileged space, and anytime we do that, we are getting our hair loaves pretty well tilted there. Folks, that's putting ourselves as better than other people, which is not really the best place to be.
Speaker 1:Entitlement these days is getting to the point where it's being very divisive. In faith communities, in communities, in businesses, it doesn't matter where it's happening. It becomes divisive, it becomes hurtful, when one person or one group is entitled to more than their fair share, more than what other people get. That is not the way this country was built. That's not the way most of us would like to see. We'd like to see everybody.
Speaker 1:You know, the idea in this country is that all people are created equal. All were all at the same level. Well, the truth is we're not and never have been. That's not the way societies work, and I'm not saying that's the way they should work, but I'm saying that's not the way they do work. There's always been some kind of stacking of positioning in most cultures and societies, and entitlement is kind of trying to up the game and saying I want to move on up the ladder, not because of if it were a corporation, it wouldn't be. You're in a position where you have certain job responsibilities, you get certain pay for that, etc. It would be saying I'm in the same position, same responsibilities, but I'm entitled to the pay of somebody who's doing another job that gets paid a whole lot more. That would be an idea of entitlement. That's not the way our culture tries to work. But entitlement creates problems between people, but it also creates problems for us as individuals.
Speaker 1:That's where I want to focus it, because one of the beautiful things that we have the opportunity to do is to be grateful. To be grateful for any and every opportunity that comes our way. I'm grateful to be able to be with you on this podcast. I'm grateful to the people who are helping me make this podcast possible. I'm grateful for the opportunity to think, to go places, to see different things. I'm grateful for the ability to see and to hear, even though my hearing is not as good as it used to be. I am still grateful for that.
Speaker 1:But when we feel entitled to things, it kills gratitude, very much so Because we're no longer. If it's something we're entitled to, why should we be grateful for it? If we're entitled to the food that we eat, we're not going to be grateful for it. If we're entitled to drive down the street and that's my route, I'm not going to be grateful for the way the road is maintained. If we're entitled to have the best paved roads in the county, I'm not going to be grateful. Really, when they come and fix the potholes, I'll be entitled that they do that. When we see the world through the lens of being entitled entitled to anything the potholes get fixed in the road. Outside that we have to travel, we can go on a vacation to a certain place, that we can drive down a certain road, that we have a certain kind of vehicle, that we have food on the table and the kind of food we want to eat. If we feel like we're entitled to always having steak and family serves us chicken, we'll get upset and we'll see that as less than than the people who put in the time and the effort to prepare that as not caring about us. Instead of looking at oh, they created an interesting new dish with chicken, but if I'm entitled to always have steak, I won't even taste the wonderful new possibilities in that new dish and that of what's there. I won't see the health benefits that are there in that creation. I'll miss all of that Because entitlement focuses our mind and our spirit on a very narrow little bit of life.
Speaker 1:That's what we're entitled to. It's the, it's the tiny slice that we feel is ours to hold and hang on to and to keep, and that no one else should dare infringe on. That Entitlement squeezes a lot of life out of life. Entitlement keeps us from seeing the variety and the spice. It keeps us from seeing the gifts that other people offer to us just by who they are and how they do things. Entitlement distracts us from seeing the good things in front of us because we're not seeing what we want to see or what we think we're supposed to be seeing.
Speaker 1:Entitlement really keeps us. It shrinks our lives, it shrinks our spirit, it shrinks our relationships. It shrinks everything about us and about our world as to just what we're entitled to, and we can't be grateful for much of anything except for what we're entitled to. And if we're entitled to it, why be grateful for it? So it really pushes gratitude way far away from us. And when we push gratitude away from us from the things even that we think we're entitled to, we're not going to have the depth and the wealth of understanding, of appreciation, of seeing and being satisfied even with the things we think we're entitled to.
Speaker 1:Because if we're entitled to stake, well, why then aren't we entitled to whatever we think would be better than that? Why then aren't we entitled to have something more than that? And it would always be upping the ante and upping the game and we'll keep missing so much of what's there that's already good, that's already beautiful and wonderful in the people around us, in the world around us, even in our own lives, we won't really see life, we won't really taste and experience it, we won't hear the beauty of all kinds of music if we're entitled to only one kind. We won't miss so much the next time you feel like, well, I'm supposed to have, or it's supposed to be this way in my life, or this is the way life is supposed to be. That's a way of looking kind of at entitlement. So stop and think If you were to say you're entitled to anything, what would it be?
Speaker 1:Why are you entitled to that and what are you missing? There is so much out there in life. When we narrow the focus only to what we're entitled to, we miss so much. I want you to see the beauty and the breadth and the depth of everything around you, to go deeper, not just to swim in the little pond, but to experience the ocean depths of life, of all the beauty that's there and the richness that's there. To taste all the wonderful flavors of life, not just one. To experience the wonders and beauties and joys of all of the people around you, not just those who do things the way you want them to.
Speaker 1:Entitlement is a killer. It kills us. It kills us by keeping our lives so small only to what we're entitled to. It kills our relationships because we don't see the beauty and the fullness of other people around us. So think about that. Entitlement is a killer. It kills our gratitude, it kills our relationships and, most of all, it kills us. Our spirit, our joy, our understanding, kills our relationship with God's spirit and universe too, because we can't express gratitude to God for anything that we're entitled to.
Speaker 1:So if you want to live the depths of life, we've got to give up entitlement in all kinds of ways. I'm still working on that for me, but it starts with being aware of the ways in which we feel entitled, even a few of them. So I'm hoping that you will take this and the richness that it might bring and open yourselves to the possibility of something more that, yeah, you're entitled to a good life, but it's bigger and deeper and richer than what you could even dream of now if you see life as only limited to certain things, you're entitled to a lot more, in a sense, and that means letting go of what we feel entitled to now to see all of what God has in store, all the richness and the depth of all of those experiences to grow from, even the ones that aren't so happy. Yes, we can grow from those, from some of the bad and ugly experiences of life. They happen and we are entitled, in a sense, to be able to grow through those, but it means giving up the belief that we're entitled to have life without those things. So, you know, think of and expand. If you have to think that you're still entitled, okay, but expand the breadth of that, most of all, let's all work together to let go of the feeling of entitlement and to joy of sharing and seeing the fullness of all of life.
Speaker 1:So until next time, I'm the Tilted Halo. Thank you for joining me today and please come back again next time for another episode of the Tilted Halo. You have been listening to Tilted Halo with me, kathleen Panning. What did you think about this episode? I'd really like to hear from you. Leave me some comments. Be sure to like, subscribe and share this episode and catch another upcoming episode. For more conversation on ministry, life, mindset and a whole lot more, go to wwwtiltedhalohelpcom, where I've got a resource guide and other resources waiting for you, and be sure to say hi to me, kathleen Panning, on LinkedIn. See you on the next episode.