Perspective

I have seen and done so much since I last posted, where do I begin? Perhaps with an apology to those who have been faithfully checking this website only to find old entries from months ago. I have (obviously) not continued my blogging as I said I would, spending more time 'doing' and less time reflecting on the work getting done. I spent last week in retreat with fellow volunteers at Iona, a Christian community on an island off the west coast of Scotland. Although I was expecting time to meditate, pray and reflect, we spent most of our time meeting new people and working on group art projects to be presented to the community at the end of the week. It was typical of the past month or two, in which I (consciously or unconsciously) avoided serious reflection on my time here in Belfast.

Some would say that's the way it should be-- that we should work now and worry about the rest later, but I'm not convinced. Its easier in many ways to simply work, to stay so busy that you don't have time to think. You don't have to look at yourself as much, to become aware of your feelings and reactions. You don't have to struggle to articulate ambiguous heartaches, or repent of very clear trespasses. You don't have to face the fact that your time is almost done, and deep down you don't want to, because you don't know how to say goodbye.

All I know right now is that I have been blessed beyond belief here in Belfast, in ways that are impossible to repay here and now. My only hope is that somehow the Lord will use my time here in ways that I have yet to see. At times like this it is necessary for me to regain a proper perspective on this life and the task I have been given. In the past I have found the following prayer very helpful, in which Archbishop Romero (of El Salvador) reminds us that we are only part of a much larger purpose, and that the redemption of humankind is a work in progress:


It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God'’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church'’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord'’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.