Faith, hope & charity (Part 1)

When I was a girl I had a charm bracelet that I’d received as a Christmas gift from my parents. One of the first charms I received for that bracelet was a charm of a cross, an anchor and a heart – representing faith (cross), hope (anchor) and charity/love (heart.)

The trio served as a visual reminder of the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 (the love chapter):

And now abide, faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I’m thinking of this charm as I prepare my presentations for the conferences in India. My opening talk will focus on Sarah who with her husband Abraham are the “parents” of faith in the Bible. Despite their age and history and the total impossibility of the whole idea, they believed that God would somehow fulfil his promise that their descendants would number as the stars. They were both pushing 100 and had not managed to produce a child to that point. The whole plan was so ridiculous Sarah laughed out loud when she heard it.

But still they believed and hoped and ultimately the promise was fulfilled with the birth of Isaac. And their faith was counted to them as righteousness. (Romans 4:13-22 ). Amazing isn’t it?

Give me Your Heart

I woke early this morning with a head full of fretting over details and tasks not yet completed in preparation for this mission to India.

To distract myself from my worries, I tried to focus on the real purpose of this trip – which is clearly not just about checking off all the items on my to do list.  As I reminded myself that I’m going to be a servant to others, literally as God’s “hands and feet” the words of this song came to mind:

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

And then, feeling properly focused, I was able to go back to sleep.

Blessed with restless discomfort and more

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

AMEN.

via An Access to Justice Prayer | Lawscape.

This Franciscan prayer caught my eye and stirred my heart today.  I feel like these are blessings I have received, though I’ve never really thought of them as gifts from above.

 

Why go all the way to India?

This is a question that I have really been thinking about.  After all, there are people to love and serve all around me – whether in the inner city, in my local town or in isolated communities around Manitoba. 

In today’s news I read about federal efforts to improve access to clean, safe water and sanitation in Island Lakes.  While I applaud the steps to be taken, this represents literally just a “drop in the bucket.”

   

I was recently deeply impacted by a presentation by Rick Greer about the work of Pathway Camp Ministries in offering day camp activities to First Nation communities in Manitoba each summer.  Rick spoke passionately about the needs of the youth of those communities – for something to do, for one-on-one attention, for education, for hope for the future.  This is a great example of the kind of needs I can easily find and support without flying across the ocean.

So why am I going to India? 

Good question.  I’ve no plans to uproot my family to work there.  I may never go back again.  And increasingly, I am sensing that the call I am feeling to go and serve will take me into contact with First Nation communities, though I’ve no idea of what that will mean exactly.

I look at this journey to India as the preparation for whatever comes next for me.  It’s my education in serving the “least of these”  and in loving the unloved.  I know this experience will change me forever and hopefully for better.  I have no doubt that dealing with the challenges and obstacles our team will encounter and that I personally will come up against, will provide the best kind of training for what lies ahead in my life.

Bulembu, Swaziland

 This video by Vancouver band Spirit of the West breaks my heart, yet somehow the voices of the orphan children and their faces give me hope.  Watch it.  You’ll love the song, I am sure.  Buy the song on iTunes – all proceeds are going to Bulembu International.