We do care. People tend to have a deeply seeded sense of love and compassion. Deep within, all of us – ALL of us - lies a divine spark, a God given piece that remains with us through all eternity. That piece reflects God – a God that, “… has compassion on everybody, loves everyone, and wishes to make everyone eternally happy.” (Heavenly Secrets, # 904).
Aligning our lives with that love is where challenges arise. Likewise, when we do it, it is where life most breaks open. I most enjoyed a TED talk by Jessica Jackley as she spoke about her journey from the Sunday School lessons of taking care of the poor to something far deeper – organized steps to do that in a way that aligned love and money. She definitely lives that “spark”!
What she learned in the process of organizing her non-profit, Kiva, is that we do care and we do love. Fear keeps many of us from always living into that care and love – fear of failure, fear of doing it wrong, fear of being taken advantage of. What moves us through that fear are stories.
Stories – a point so true. We thrive on stories. As Rachel Naomi Remen noted in an NPR interview – at times we need them more than food. Watching God settle into peoples’ souls, including mine, is known by story. There is no other experience of it, no other communication of it. And those stories move us beyond fear. The fact is there are mechanics of growing a church, a church focused on service. There are budgets, perspectives that at times challenge, projections not met, personality clashes – aka “the mess” that is life. And there are the stories. Stories upon story that speaks to the need to reach out, to connect, to find meaning. The best of those are the ones that pull us in and then push us out.