You Are Now Entering Your Mission Field
Posted by Julia, St. Paul's youth group member:
Take a risk. That was our assignment, today and everyday of this experience. This morning our day leaders posed a question-What risks have you taken today? On its face, it seems simple, we take risks everyday right? Apparently not. Even in the confines of an experience during which I feel as if I am pushing the very limits of my person, risks were hard to find. Olivia said she faced one when she went into the Port-a-Potty at the worksite, but to me it wasn't that simple. Sitting on the floor all day cementing tiles wasn't a risk, and at the end of the day, I had yet to locate the risk taken, and that feeling was daunting.
If I couldn't find a risk to take in New Orleans, one of the riskiest cities in the country in so many ways, how could I push myself in my own life, which for the most part is the very definition of suburbia?
For our evening activity we were going to attend a service at St. Anna's church, followed by a dinner. Immediately, I noticed the service, and the church itself, were very contrary to any experience I had in worship before. The decorations were ostentatious, almost gaudy, but at the same time beautiful. There were about twelve people besides us there, and one dog. If this wasn't a risk, it was certainly something pushing me out of my comfort zone.
The service continued as any Episcopalian one does, and that familiarity was comforting. It was when the sermon began that it all began.
The minister began speaking of the power of holy week, when a voice from the back of the room interrupted. When does that ever happen? It was a man, pretty obviously not in sound mind, and he immediately began to question the validity of what it was all about. He kept saying that he was thankful to the minister, calling him his brother, over and over expressing gratitude. I didn't have the context, but I understood the importance of the two men to each other.
"I just want to be loved." The man said.
"It's a risk to be loved." The minister responded.
Little explanation is needed. Putting ones whole heart to another person, to God, is the biggest risk the soul can take. Letting every part of one's being be shared with another soul, that's a risk. And that is something I want to do every single day.
Taking the risk of loving God, and in turn being loved by Him-what a risk. What if he lets you down? What if (as was the case for this man in this tale) you were an artist of plaster, and you lost your sight for five years, and did have it returned? What if He sends a tempest named Katrina your way, who steals everything that you value, and everything that defines your soul? The love you have given to him, that risk that you took, isn't validated when you are cheated in the end.
But it is this risk, this potential for loss, that makes the love that can be shared with God so powerful. And the minister knew that. He took the hand of this man and led him to a pew in the front of the church, inviting him into a community, for once. Love, and the risk of this love, prevailed.
"You Are Now Entering Your Mission Field" This was posted over every door leading to the outside in St. Anna's. The experience that I had sitting in that pew, the lesson that I learned, I can never leave behind. Take it to the world. Share the work, share the wealth, share the story, share the risk. It is never enough to be a Sunday Christian, it is a mission that one must partake EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Today I learned so much. So take a risk today. Love someone, love God, and love yourself. It may be lost, as the man's sight was. But it can be restored, as the man's sight was. The love relationship with God is always rewarded in the end. I hope to carry this philosophy with me for the rest of my life, because it can certainly be a base for so much else.
Signing off, a partaker in Risky Business,
Julia
Gosh Julia. That was powerful. I can’t wait to get the whole story. It sounds like you all had a great experience. Thanks for sharing your risks.
David