Our Call to Others

We’re just back from Guatemala, where Peter, BJ and I shared ten days of togetherness with 22 other Faith-at-Workers from all over the U.S. Many had been on earlier trips. Some were new. All of us have different stories to tell. For us, the FAW Pilgrimage is an example of “our call” as a body of Christ, not just an individual response to needs in another country.

Each morning, we held up the image of being a BODY together— hands, feet, ears, eyes, mouth and more invisible parts as well. Then we piled on the bus for a hour’s drive to the work-site. As the week wore on, we noticed care for those who didn’t tolerate the long ride well, or who were having stomach troubles. Roommates watched out for each other; people settled into jobs they could do; people took turns riding in the uncomfortable seats—we learned how to deal with discomfort and physical differences as a group. It wasn’t done without some grumbling, of course. But as we got to know each other, by experience as well as story, I felt a subtle shift from “my call” to “our call.” Accomplishing our work with the villagers of El Sauce was something we had to do together!

Each evening, we spent some time reflecting on events of the day in smaller groups. Using Trevor Hudson’s fine little book on pilgrimage, A Mile in My Shoes, we looked for signs of hope as well as signs of pain in the village and in our group. Sharing space and preferences was required for all of us.

However, it was hard for us as North Americans to choose that much closeness. On the one day that we had a 40-passenger bus, we each took a window seat! Enough of that relational stuff! Raised to expect lots of privacy, I think the challenge of needing to be sensitive and responsive to others is harder for Americans than for most others in the world. But if we are to have loving relationships with one another anywhere, we’ve got to learn HOW to function together, how to deal with needs and disabilities as well as strengths. Church is one institutional place in our society where we are expected to do that. Pilgrimage is another.

Honor More Hidden Parts

In his column on building community, Tom Ott raises the image of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples as an example of simply BEING together. What I also see in that story is an invitation to honor each other along with serving the world.

Call was meant to be a collective effort, not an individual challenge. Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs; admonished them to love one another and consistently stepped away from putting any single disciple in charge of the others.

Functioning as a “body of Christ” might have been easier for the disciples, given their more communal worldview, but Jesus clearly knew it would be a challenge for them. Today, it is even more so for us. It’s no accident that all of the scriptures on spiritual gifts are set in the context of being a body with many parts.

Nobody is expected to do it all! God’s call is never meant to be a solo effort. It will always take us into relationship with others who hear the same call to service. The joy for me in Guatemala was discovering the other parts of the body as they emerged from the work at hand—whether that was ordering a meal, finding a bottle of water, or tying rebar as a team.

Gracias Amigos!

On The Road w/ MZB

Baltimore MD Church of the Redeemer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9/17/06

Spotsylvania VA ECW Retreat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/21/06

Roanoke VA • Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church Retreat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9/23-25/06

Minneapolis MN • Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church Women’s Retreat . 10/6-8/06

Vienna VA • ECW meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/28/06

Reston VA • St. Anne’s Episcopal Church Advent Quiet Day . . . . . . . . . . . .12/2/06

Marjory Bankson is editor of Faith@Work magazine, artist, relational teacher and author of Call to the Soul and a brand new version of Seasons of Friendship, and is a Steward of The Seekers Church, a faith community of Church of the Saviour in Washington DC.