Ontologer Defined  by Robert Eagan      As Charlotte introduces the team of people who make our Sunday Service possible, she introduces me as the “Ontologer.”  You may wonder about the meaning of “ontologer.”  Let me explain.      I am an ordained Unity minister.  People in my profession are called Reverend.  That is a title similar to Judge or President.  It is not part of a persons name such as Reverend Bob or Rev. Sally.  I grew up in the Catholic religion and we did not have ministers or pastors in my world, we had priests.  I have no childhood or young adult attachment to either ministers or pastors.  I do, however, have experiences with both in my adult life.      Some of the ministers or pastors I have met or dealt with seem to regard themselves as closer to God that the ordinary mortal.  They seem to place themselves in a position to judge and condemn anyone who doesn’t agree with their particular dogma or creed.  They tend to move about with an air of superiority and disdain for anyone but themselves.  This has been part of my experience in the last 30 years.  On the other hand, I have also  met some wonderful men and women in the ministry profession.  But these men and women work quietly helping and loving people and are not loud nor trying to draw attention to themselves.  I have great respect for these men and women.  And yes, I have met both types in Unity.      In my day to day living or the last 28 years as an ordained Unity minister I have found that people tend to back up a step or two when I tell them I am a minister.  The conversations around me stop because the nearby people are not wanting to offend the “man of God” in the room.  They, too, seem to have had experiences with the sanctimonious, “holier than thou” type of minister...and I missed out on a lot of good jokes and stories because of that.      When I was living in Olympia, before Spirit directed me to this profession, I attended a mystical teaching I AM group.  The leader of this group referred to himself as an ontologer.  I didn’t pay much attention to the word because titles are not important to me.  A couple of years ago, I was rummaging through some of my old files and found the business card of my teacher of 30+ years ago.  My attention was drawn to the word “ontologer” on the card.  I checked my dictionary and found that an ontologer is a metaphysical teacher.  I like that, for that is how I see myself.  So I whimsically adopted the title, “Ontogoler”.  But the whimsy has passed and now I find that Ontologer fits me better than I initially thought it would.  I find that people react much differently to “the Ontologer” than to “the Minister or Pastor.”  Just as people have conscious and subconscious expectations and reactions to the words “wife” or “husband”, so also do people have expectations and reactions to the words “minister” or “pastor”.  There are no expectations to the word “Ontologer” so I am freed of any limitations in peoples beliefs and I am treated as any other person.  I like at.  I’m just a guy doing a job assigned to him by Spirit, no more divine or special than you.  Of course, you are free to think of me as your minister or your pastor but I will still think of myself as being the Ontologer .