Stillness and Action

I walked into a health club the other day wanting only to look like I knew what I was doing. This was one of those fancier clubs, full of muscular people in tight workout clothes. I hopped on an exercise bike thinking it would be a good place to start--how hard could this be? After all, I've been riding a bike since I was 8 years old.

I quickly learned that a modern day exercise bike is not the same as my old Schwinn Typhoon. Staring at the control panel (that looked as if it may be able to launch a rocket), I realized I had no clue how to begin. I sat on the bike, befuddled and unmoving. If the goal was to look like I knew what I was doing, I was failing spectacularly.

Luckily some sympathetic, well spandexed exerciser leaned over from the next bike and gave me the magic formula. "You have to start peddling first" she said. Well there you go. Once I started peddling, the screen lit up with all sorts of helpful step by step guidelines. The key was to get going; the guidance came only after I started.

GETTING GOING

If we are going to hear God's call on our life, many times we need to still ourselves. Most of us know that and don't do it consistently. In other cases we need to get going, trusting that the guidance will come as we move forward. Weren't the Israelites called to splash into the Jordan before the path dried up? Didn't Jesus send a leper back to show the priest he was healed even before it happened? Sometimes a first step of faith is called for before the next step becomes clear.

Faith is a continual dance of reflection and action, being still and getting going. Midway through my first year with Faith@Work, I find myself doing a lot of both. Action has involved learning how the organization functions, and meeting the F@W network. I have enjoyed being with F@W people in California, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Maine, with more visits to come. I have been talking, writing and emailing F@Wer's old and young. I have been gathering with other groups, looking for connections. We are getting going with some new program ideas, including a Living with Loss training event in April, and a pilgrimage to Guatemala next summer (see info on the Calendar page?)

DIVING INTO THE FUTURE

This has also been a time for stillness and reflection. I am trying to understand who F@W is, who I am in relation to F@W, and what our mutual call looks like. In the words of the poet Wendell Berry, I am wanting to "keep faith with what they have been and will be". Keeping faith with the past as we move into a new future is a priority this year. In May, this time of action and reflection will culminate in a strategic visioning retreat with the F@W board. That Spring Board meeting will be our springboard into the future.

SEPTEMBER 11

In the last issue of our quarterly newsletter @Work, I reflected on F@W's role in the world since September 11. I invited readers to contact me with their thoughts, feelings, and musings on what F@W has to offer. So now to you, the broader F@W network of magazine readers, I invite your response as well: What gift(s) does F@W offer to the post-September 11 world? What core values of ours are particularly important? You can contact me by email or letter here at the office (106 E. Broad St. Suite B, Falls Church, VA. 22046.)

As we move into the next days of global hostility, Thanksgiving, and Advent, I pray for you moments of sacred stillness and fruitful action.

God's Peace

Doug Wysockey-Johnson is the Executive Director of Faith At Work. He and his wife Kathryn live in Arlington VA. Read about his call and vision for his journey ahead.