Originally posted March 22, 2012, at Humble Walk. Republished with permission of the author.
I keep thinking about my friends. The ones I have known for a couple decades now. You might recognize this tribe: They went to college — or a bit of college — then gave themselves fully to something. They served, working toward the common good in the Peace Corps, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, Youth Encounter, full-time camps and retreat centers, Up with People, Habitat for Humanity, etc.
One friend went off to be a shepherd in New Zealand. Really. It was some sort of volunteer farm program. A real live shepherd! Me? I moved to northern Idaho and lived at Camp Lutherhaven.
Now, fast forward 10-20 years and most of these friends are still living lives of service. The sad part is that they have trouble believing it.
Jesus bids us to “come and die.” When you sign up for a year of full-time volunteering — or get sent overseas — when you sign on for voluntary poverty, it feels like you are actually doing something. You are sure you know what it feels like to “come and die.” It feels like you are making a difference. You know what it means to “take up your cross and follow.”
But at this age, it doesn’t feel clear at all. Because now you find yourself with people to tend — children and aging parents. You make commitments to partners. You walk with a friend through a life-altering diagnosis. You have mortgages to pay and jobs that require much of you.
And then you think back to those early 20s and think, “What am I doing to help?” Or “Remember when we were going to single-handedly take down poverty?”
Guess what? You are doing something. Anyone who has spent the day tending to a child in diapers knows what it means to “come and die.” Walking with your friends through a life-sucking breakup? You do, too. And when you were 20 and so passionately serving? You had the option to quit and go home. These complex lives you have now? Well, friends, you don’t get to quit and go home. You are here — and making all sorts of goodness in this world. I see it even if you don’t.
Find a link to Jodi Houge’s blog Humble Walk at Lutheran Blogs.
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Cool article!
Luther says some neat stuff of vocation, about living our faith and being the best we can be where-ever that finds us. For too long, we have interpreted things too narrowly, that ministry is stuff that happens in church buildings and that doing good is something that happens thru non-profits or certain experiences but not regular jobs or careers.
We need to do a better job of helping people see that they take Jesus with them in their regular lives. Your writing reminded of the plumber who not only fixed the sewer problem in the basement but told the mom with two small kids that he would clean the raw sewage up "because my boots and mop are already dirty". Or the farmer that stopped on a lonely road and not only unhooked the frozen cruise control but followed me thirty miles into town to make sure I got home safe.