October 16, 2019 I do my best mission work during happy hours. Three friends and I like gathering for a little wine and lots of food at our favorite bar/restaurant once every two to three months. The four of us sometimes engage in regular happy hour conversations – talking about our families, sports, the happenings at the workplace where we all became friends… Other times, we somehow end up talking about the tough topics – politics, morality and faith. When we talk about the tough topics, there is always disagreement. Despite our differences, no one gets angry or defensive during these discussions. As one participant of these exchanges explained, “I know all of us to be intelligent people, good people. If intelligent, upstanding people believe something completely different from me, I’m sure there must be good reasons, and I want to know what those reasons are.” We all walk away from these discussions more informed and still friends – uncommon outcomes for disagreements about politics, morality and faith these days. At one of these discussions, one of the participants, a woman who struggles with the idea of faith in God and with organized religion, said, “I never even thought about this stuff until you guys came along,” gesturing to me and the other friend who argue in favor of the existence of God and the role of organized religion. The woman who made the statement is regularly kind and affirming, but that felt like the nicest thing she had ever said to me. It meant I was heeding the call to share my love of God. As the theme of this Extraordinary Missionary Month suggests, we’re all called to share the Gospels by default of our baptism. We are, in fact, “baptized and sent.” As you’ll read in this edition, some people – generous, giving people – are sent to share their love of the Lord in remote and challenging places, embracing the universality of the church and serving God and his people in profound ways. We are called to support them and pray for them. But we’re also called to join in that mission spirit wherever we may be. Even sometimes at happy hour. |
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