Right is not Enough

Mission does not end. However you might understand the Lord, your mission does not end.

Christianity - that is, being Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ - is not realized or finished in understanding. It is not settled with a point of view, or an opinion. God's way is not our way. It is not a matter of thought. It is a matter of being.

As God is being, and his word is the Lord, our life is matter of coming into being. Our mission - one's individual, personal mission - is just as much a thing in flux. Alive, changing, and subject to the conditions of life.

This understanding is, again, not a matter of mere thought. Anyone who has experienced a year or more of liturgy cannot fail to be aware of the changing constancy of message. One might put this to individual conditions, but the pace outraces understanding or projection. Go to Mass once a week, add into that regular prayer, such as the Rosary, and the fluid, dynamic nature of a life in Christ is more striking.

I have, in the past few weeks, experienced more progression or change in Mission than I can recall having experienced in any other phase of life. These are continental shifts, moving from prayer to service in new ways.

I am, right now, focused on how to address the needs of the homeless, the despairing, who frequent our city streets. My concern is not unique, but the sense of mission is fresh to me. The character of feeling compelled to go out, alone, and attend to people one-on-one is new. I have a steady volunteer situation at Union Gospel Mission - but this, this is urgent. I need to get out. I need to talk to people one-on-one. I am not sure how to do. I feel like I have been charged to do this, and it is a challenge.

Thinking is not doing, and neither is feeling. It is clear to me that the Lord wants more from us than mere right opinions. There is more to do than simply to be right.