 |
| "Pacific Swift & her dories on the West Coast" Credit the Rev Gillian Hoyer. Used with permission. |
Antoine
de Saint-Exupéry wrote: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up your men
[sic] to collect wood and give orders and distribute the work. Instead, teach
them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
The
message given throughout many of this authors' works is that one must dream an
outside the box dream, something which inspires the heart and emboldens the
spirit. From this energy comes the vision to make the dream a reality.
We
know that we want to move from dream to vision to reality. However, we can
sometimes get stuck, by other people: we might listen to the nay-sayers, the
folks who are unwilling or unable to take the risks, the 'we've never done it
that way before' quoters, the doubters.
We
also might get stuck on circumstance: a vision process is not formulaic, a
process that works in one manner/time/space does not guarantee success in
another, not every vision will come to fruition, energy may falter.
It
would be easy to give up there. To just maintain the status quo, keep on keeping on,
don't rock the boat.
And
yet...
 |
| "Heading out to sea - Guam" Credit the Rev Gillian Hoyer. Used with permission. |
As
people of faith, the Gospel compels us to action. It challenges us to dream new
ways and methods and opportunities to love God and neighbour. It inspires us to
get out of our comfortable pew and go beyond our four sturdy walls to be a
faith-driven force within the mission field that is right in front of us. It
does not condone complacency, spurring us into exciting ways to live and love
all that God places before us.
So
imagine if we heard the words of the Gospel as a call to dream, to vision, and
to act. What ministry would we plan? What mission would we fulfill? What actions
would demonstrate that we are faithful disciples of our risen Lord?
May
we yearn for the vast and endless sea of possibilities to share the love of God.
Fair
seas and following winds, my friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment