It’s Monday morning, the weekend seems to have escaped my notice and I spend a few minutes trying to tell myself that I am where I should be (at work) – as opposed to lounging in a hammock under a coconut tree – or anywhere else really!
So, in the start up process for another day, I ask myself why it matters! What about what I will do today will energise me and help me get on with it? Why does it matter? (This is not a defeated, ‘worm theology’, glass half-empty, woe is me introspection – it’s just a stock take, gee-up, refocus.)
In that process I reflect on the covenants I have made, the ‘bigger than me’ visions I believe in, the people that have invested in me – I want to be faithful to these. I want to make sure that the people that have sacrificed for me know that their ‘investment’ is making a difference.
Twenty-four years ago I covenanted with God “to live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life; to care for the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, love the unlovable, and befriend those who have no friends”. Today this covenant still claims my energies and my purpose. I have the privilege of working to reveal God and God’s salvation priority in some pretty awful and hostile contexts.
And, claiming William Booth’s vision as my own: “While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now I'll fight... while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight.” So, I look at my project list and remember that:
So, in the start up process for another day, I ask myself why it matters! What about what I will do today will energise me and help me get on with it? Why does it matter? (This is not a defeated, ‘worm theology’, glass half-empty, woe is me introspection – it’s just a stock take, gee-up, refocus.)
In that process I reflect on the covenants I have made, the ‘bigger than me’ visions I believe in, the people that have invested in me – I want to be faithful to these. I want to make sure that the people that have sacrificed for me know that their ‘investment’ is making a difference.
Twenty-four years ago I covenanted with God “to live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life; to care for the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, love the unlovable, and befriend those who have no friends”. Today this covenant still claims my energies and my purpose. I have the privilege of working to reveal God and God’s salvation priority in some pretty awful and hostile contexts.And, claiming William Booth’s vision as my own: “While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now I'll fight... while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight.” So, I look at my project list and remember that:
- With a team in Eastern Europe I am working to educate people about the evil of trafficking of persons, especially children and reclaiming the childhood of ‘poor lost girls upon the streets’.
- With the team in Afghanistan I work to empower and restore the dignity of women and girls who are owned, marginalised and disempowered.
- In Lebanon and Bosnia Hercogevina I work with a team to facilitate interfaith dialogue and learning with the aim of building relationships of peace that will eradicate hate filled conflicts that are based on ignorance - revealing how God is present.
- And, whilst the invisible, hungry street kids, (the 4 year old rag pickers, grimy oil scrapers and the defeated, empty-eyed sex toys) in the Rawalpindi bus depot continue to be exploited – I’ll work!
