The Dirty Word... Missionary

I get asked a lot about what the next two years holds, and when I explain what I am doing, the typical response is "oh, so like a missionary trip, right?" Let me make this clear once and for all... I AM IN NO WAY WHAT SO EVER ON A MISSION OR GOING OUT INTO SOUTH AMERICA TO CONVERT OR PROSELYTIZE ANYONE... got it?

So then, how does spirituality play into this adventure? Spiritual life tends to be seasonal for me where at times I do "desire the desire" as Ignatius talks about, and other times, I'm a washed up river basin with very little to offer, and very little within. And those from Arrupe know that if we try and throw J.C (Jesus) into the equation, forgetta about it, I'm gonna be lost.

But I remind myself that spirituality is more than just religion and other streotypes we are fed so much. For some, the traditional ways work, and that's good. For me, my relationship with God is found in my willingness to be in relation and kinship to others, particularly those who are most often forgotten in our society. It has and I hope will contine to be defined through my service for AND with others.

My spiritual life has always been chaotic and perhaps sometimes fluid and undefined. But in the end, through all the mud and the muck, it's been something to call uniquely my own. And so I bring myself: the struggles, questions, and passion for social teaching and liberation theology to this group of volunteers, and we interact as an "intentional community" in an attempt to find God in our own lives, and our own ways. And I won't always agree with their theology. They most certainly will not always agree with mine, but we will learn and grow. Ultimatley we'll be challenged to understand our own lives better through attempts to understand the lives of others.

So don't worry my friends, I WILL NOT be out trying to convert anyone to anything anytime soon, you know me, pluralism is great!

"I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief." Gerry Spence